A husband could only watch on as his wife was mauled by a hippopotamus while on a safari tour in Zambia, Africa.
New Jersey native Craig Manders and his wife Lisa were on a “bush walk” when a hippo suddenly came out of the water and attacked her. She was killed almost instantly.
Lisa was 70.
The incident occurred last year, and Craig is now suing the safari tour company. He believes they should have kept his wife safe. He also claims they had never been warned of the danger they could have been in and that they would have never agreed to get so close to hippos had they known.
“Had we understood the dangers posed by the hippopotamus, we never would have agreed to be in such close contact while on foot,” he said in a statement through his attorneys, per NBC News.
He added:
“The idea that we were unwittingly exposed to such an extreme danger, a danger made even worse by our tour guides leaving Lisa alone on foot with nothing between her and such a deadly animal, is nothing short of astonishing.”
Craig Manders Claims He And His Wife Weren’t Properly Informed
Craig and Lisa left the United States on May 31, heading to Zambia for a 10-day safari. The mother of three was killed just five days into the tour.
According to the suit, the tour guides either knew or should have known how close the hippos were and should have made that clear because of how aggressive the animals could be.
At least one of the guides had a rifle but they had left the area when the hippo charged out of the water toward Lisa, who tried to run away.
“She was unable to escape and the hippopotamus violently attacked her, grabbing her by its mouth, lifting her off the ground, shaking her entire body, and crushing her head and body with its bite.”
African Portfolio, a company with its headquarters in Connecticut, set up the tour. Their lawyer, Rod Gould, said that the incident was “really unusual” but that the company was not responsible for any accidents as it was only tasked with organizing the tours.
