Hotel Liable for Hippo Killing a Guest - $317,000 USD

BRICKBURN

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How many lodges and hotels allow critters in close to entertain the guests. This should make them think twice.
The client/guest blames the hotel for approaching a dangerous animal with young at foot?! o_O


Family of Chinese Woman Killed By Hippo Gets U.S.$317,000

By Richard Munguti

The High Court has Thursday ordered Sun Africa Hotels to pay Sh31.9 million to the family of a Chinese tourist who was killed by a hippo in 2013.

The woman was killed while taking pictures of a mother hippopotamus which was grazing with its calf at the Lake Naivasha Country Club.

Following the death, the family sued the hotel saying the killing had robbed them of their only child and breadwinner.

Justice Jacqueline Kamau said evidence presented in court by the hotel that Li was taking pictures of the hippo when she was attacked was just hearsay since none of the witnesses saw her.

"The fact that her camera was on standby, if at all, was not proof that she was taking the photo of the hippo and could have taken the photos earlier on standby mode," said Justice Kamau.

The judge ruled it was quite clear that the hippos had encroached onto the hotel premises and were a major threat to guests.

HOW SHE DIED

The hotel told the court that Ms Luo Yi and her colleagues had had dinner and then escorted to their rooms, which face the open lawn area and the lakeside.

The visitors then spotted the hippos grazing around the lawn area and excitedly "rushed out of their rooms armed with cameras to take photos of the calf hippo," the hotel said.

"Ms Luo moved too close to the calf hippo and suddenly an adult female hippo, presumably the calf's mother, charged at and attacked her "ostensibly to protect her calf, and thereby inflicted fatal injuries to the deceased."

But Kenya Wildlife Service said the fatal attack was occasioned by the joint negligence of the deceased and the hotel.

The wildlife agency blames Ms Luo for wandering into an area she ought not have, taking photos of the calf and playing with it.

The agency also blamed the hotel for failing to erect an electric fence to prevent wild animals from accessing its premises and encroaching on a riparian land where hippopotamus graze.


https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Family-of-tourist-killed-by-hippo-awarded-Sh31-9m/1056-4959668-ju917g/index.html
 
Not much of a payout for wrongful death.
 
Not much of a payout for wrongful death.

In Kenya? It's not the US Charlie.
The average monthly wage in Kenya is 6,498 shillings ($76) avg monthly $2348.00 in USA
That's $9,793,631.58 USD equivalent award.
 
Is it really the responsibility of the hotel to inform their guests "you are in Africa, and there are a lot of animals here which can kill you quite easily"?

There isn't a single hunter on this forum, and I would wager a hefty sum of money this is so, whose family might sue someone like Jerome or any of the other PHs if we were killed by the quarry we were hunting. And we all know precisely why.

Why does the ignorance of these f**kwits get their families so much money?

"Accidental" deaths should be black swan events. IOW, not foreseeable at all. It is not a hotel owner's problem that he has some guests who are ignorant morons and get themselves killed by wild animals which have more mass than most automobiles on the road today.
 
It's an undereducated public plain and simple. These are the same idiots who don't know a thing about wildlife and call us killers.
 
In Kenya? It's not the US Charlie.
The average monthly wage in Kenya is 6,498 shillings ($76) avg monthly $2348.00 in USA
That's $9,793,631.58 USD equivalent award.

All things are relative I suppose! And I guess one should consider the individual’s partial responsibility in the incident. You don’t just walk up to a hippo to take a picture especially that of a cow and calf. Had a bull hippo coming through the water at me some twenty yards away when my PH said “we must leave here now”.....it wasn’t a warm and fuzzy picture.
 
every lodge in the bush i have been to has signs warning of animals , and if on a river/water hole of crocs......so now this sets a precedent that puts the lodges etc in the firing line for idiots getting killed or injured......seems the usa litigation crap has reached african countries.....its a shame it happened but you cant cure stupid ......maybe they should sue disney and the other tv channels that make most of the worlds population think wild dangerous animals can talk and go around in complete loving harmony with all the rest of the animals.....i wonder now what these establishments will do , or be made to do by their insurance companies to stay covered......oh well the tourists wont get to see any wildlife near to the lodge/hotel as they might get hurt by it....then who will be complaining.......oh yeah the ones who would be first to sue if something happened to them......
 
One difference between a Hunter and a Tourist.

Here, Tourists try to pet wild bison and bull elk. Some (most) have no respect for the creatures or understanding of the consequences of encroaching on the safe-zone of the animal.
 
Here is your sign
20181010_085846.jpg
 
All things are relative I suppose! And I guess one should consider the individual’s partial responsibility in the incident. You don’t just walk up to a hippo to take a picture especially that of a cow and calf. Had a bull hippo coming through the water at me some twenty yards away when my PH said “we must leave here now”.....it wasn’t a warm and fuzzy picture.

I know you have been there and done that. I recall the story well.
If you had taken some video of that approach it would have been instructive.
Although Youtube is full of "encounters" with Hippo for these twits to learn.
 
I hate these types of lawsuits by moneygrubbers. It isn't "wrongful death" in the sense some may know in America. It is Africa. Animals kill people in Africa. This is common knowledge...and if it was not known, it should have been known when they saw the size of the animal, the size of its chompers, and its baby standing next to it.

I am a creationist, but do believe Darwin was onto something with survival of the fittest and evolution within a species.....
 
Also....the more of these types of lawsuits, the more photo safari lodges have to charge to pay insurance premiums or payouts. The future guests will front this bill. If I was the judge I would have said, "shitty deal....sorry it happened ...you can go home now."
 
i don,t know if a electric fence would have prevented it or not, but that would seem to be a cheap way of saveing the uninformed that animals can and will kill you.
 
There's never a shortage of candidates for the Darwin Awards. :confused:
 
In Hluhluwe Game Reserve. Go ahead and take a nice walk so you can see the animals up close.
P1130275.JPG
 
It's tragic that she is dead, but she is dead for being stupid with no common sense what's so ever. All these bunny huggers think wild animals are friendly, and when they get hurt, the animal gets the blame and ends up being killed. Here is your sign! You can't fix stupid!
 
When I arrived at the Pongola Game Reserve this is the sign that greets everyone just inside the entrance.
I actually laughed and thought; It's a surprise that these animals are dangerous?
I also thought that was great because this is exactly what I came to see.

I encountered every one of the species depicted at close range during my stay. At no time was I under the illusion that they were pets. There was one electric fence around the lodge about 12 feet in the air. Just one wire to keep the Elephants from walking into your room.

Now, I understand why the sign was present. :rolleyes:

sign danger.jpg
 
i don,t know if a electric fence would have prevented it or not, but that would seem to be a cheap way of saveing the uninformed that animals can and will kill you.
Electric fences are not cheap to build and maintain. I don’t believe the materials are that much cheaper in Africa.

Besides, you can’t fix stupid. You put up an electric fence to keep out the animals, and then you get sued because drunk guest are peeing on it.
 

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