What really happened on 30 May “We are not angry. We have found peace. We did not want Charlie to die. It happened at a place we and Bernd loved,” said Conny Kebbel, with both her children by her side, a few days after the incident in which her husband Bernd was killed by a lioness. They were with family and friends on a camping trip in the Kunene region. The Kebbel family had been on a trip that included stops at Ruacana, Epupa Falls and Opuwo. They had planned to travel down the Hoarusib River but abandoned that leg due to wet conditions. The group of six adults and three teenagers, travelling in three cars with roof tents, arrived in the Hoanib area on Friday, 30 May. The Kebbels were familiar with the area and its wildlife and had camped there many times before. “We parked the vehicles in a U-formation, with a view of some mustard bushes on the open side because it was windy that day. After dinner everybody went to sleep in the roof tents. “At around 01h30 Bernd said he will go down because he needs to go to the ‘toilet’. He opened the zip of the roof tent and as he climbed down the ladder I heard a sound as if he was surprised and then a lion growling. I looked out of the tent and saw a lioness had grabbed Bernd by his head,” she said. Conny attempted to rescue her husband by striking the lioness, known as Charlie, and pulling on her satellite collar. She screamed for help and one of the men came and hit the predator on the head with a small torch. But Bernd had already died from his injuries. The lion eventually let go and disappeared behind the bush. The lioness continued to approach the camp from different directions and mock charging the group. “Everybody fled into the cars because Charlie was posing a threat to all of us,” Conny said. They drove to the nearby lodge in two vehicles, taking Bernd along. At around 02h00, the manager and some of the staff at the lodge contacted the police at Sesfontein, as well as nature conservation officials. The police arrived at 07h30 to take statements and visit the scene. Lodge worker Emsie Verwey tried to contact Desert Lion Conservation Trust researcher Philip Stander. Stander was already in search of the lioness because her satellite collar was not working properly and he wanted to replace it. He did not know the Kebbels were in the area. Stander arrived at the lodge in the morning where he was asked to accompany the officials to the scene of the incident. When they arrived at the camping spot, they saw Charlie the lioness had returned and chewed on a few shoes and clothing that had been left behind. The area where the incident happened is not in a national park but on the border of the Palmwag Concession Area and the Sesfontein Communal Conservancy. Charlie is one of the ‘famous’ orphans of the Skeleton Coast Park and features in the film ‘Lions of the Skeleton Coast’, which has been broadcast all over the world. Alfa (Xpl-106), Bravo (Xpl-109) and Charlie (Xpl-114) were born in November 2015. When they lost their mother at 10 months old, Stander had little hope for their future. The orphans survived and Charlie eventually moved inland while her sisters, Alfa and Bravo, spent most of their time at the coast. She became a unique hunter, being able to hunt giraffes on her own. Charlie had cubs twice, once in 2021 and the second time early this year. Both times she lost her cubs at an early stage. After good rains at the beginning of the year and with the wildlife moving out of the Hoanib, the lioness had a tough time. She has not been in good shape. Two nights after the incident with the Kebbels, at around 04h00, she harassed tourists close by who had been warned about the lioness. She damaged the gauze of an off-road camper and one person sustained light injuries from the sharp nails of the lion. Officials of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism put Charlie down mid-morning on Sunday, 1 June. The decision followed continuous monitoring by ministry staff, which revealed that the animal had become habituated and was posing an ongoing threat to both community members and tourists. The post Bernd Kebbel: A man who loved, understood nature appeared first on The Namibian.