Tuesday, July 02, 2024 | Today's Newsletter | Login
Boar goes for man, kills three dogs
Samuela Lutumailagi is supported by his brother Emitai Daniva at the Sigatoka Hospital |
Samuela Lutumailagi, from the village of Dreke, will be recovering this week at the Sigatoka Hospital from severe wounds to his arms and legs after he was attacked by a wild boar that left three of his four hunting dogs dead.
The father of four went out to hunt for pigs for a church celebration at his village when he was attacked early Saturday morning.
Lutumailagi said he was walking through bushes close to his village when his four hunting dogs chased the wild boar.
"When they left I gave chase. The dogs had cornered the boar but when I got to the area, it charged at me," he said.
"I tried to hit it with my bamboo spear but I slipped and fell.
"The next thing I knew, the boar was on top of me. It bit both my legs than went for my hands as I tried to hold its ears," he said.
"I was holding its ears then eventually let it go when the pain was too much to bear. After the pig had bitten me, it attacked my dogs because they were biting it as it was on top of me."
"As soon as I managed to get away I realized that my injuries were serious. There was blood everywhere," said Lutumailagi, of a bizarre attack that has made headllines across the island nation.
Lutumailagi said after he managed to get onto his horse that had moved a distance away from the attack, he saw his three dogs Blackie, Vovi and Ryder lying motionless at the scene of the attack.
Lutumailagi said he struggled back to his village with the youngest dog, Tina following close behind.
He said he was very grateful for his dogs' intervention and he was looking forward to getting out of hospital so that he could revisit the scene of the attack.
He said even though he usually went out pig hunting whenever there was a village function this was the first time that he had ever been attacked.
However, Lutumailagi said over the past five years, two other villagers had been attacked by wild boars.
Lutumailagi said he went out boar hunting also to support his family by paying school fees and fulfilling other expenses.
He said he usually sold the meat to market vendors and others who travelled to their village in search of wild boar meat.
Leave a comment
