Ranger shrugs off arrow in cheek

With a poacher’s arrow through his cheek, the tip poking out of his mouth, a former Eastern Cape game ranger working in Kenya chased after his attacker, who fled into the bush.

William Hofmeyr, who was attacked a week ago at the Olarro Conservancy in Kenya, a hotspot for poachers, said the wound had left only a small scar.

Hofmeyr, 51, said if anything, the incident had made him more determined than ever to pursue what he does – “the conservation of wildlife and the betterment of our socioeconomic activities with the communities”.

Hofmeyr said he had been on a routine patrol on Thursday last week, tracking elephants, when he saw someone asleep under a tree.

“So I went up to him to tell him he can’t be sleeping inside the conservancy.

“It’s a hotspot for poachers, but there are also wild animals roaming around and he could be eaten by a lion or something.”

He said while walking up to the sleeping man, he did not see a second man – his attacker – lurking nearby.

“It happened really fast – the next minute I had an arrow stuck in my mouth. It pierced my right cheek and got stuck in my mouth,” Hofmeyr said.

“It was painful, but I spent a lot of time in the military and in the police so my first instinct was to apprehend the fellow.

“I’ve been shot before, it happens.”

He fired warning shots which failed to deter the fleeing attacker.

“I pursued the man in my vehicle but, after about an hour, the pain and embedded arrow forced me to turn around and drive to the clinic.”

The clinic staff, however, were reluctant to remove the arrow.

“I had to pull it out myself. “They [clinic staff] were too scared to hurt me, so I just told them to step aside and I would do it. I just pulled it out.”

He was back at work the next day. Hofmeyr, who was born in Makhanda (Grahamstown) and grew up adjacent to the Addo Elephant National Park, has been living in Kenya for the past six years.

“I wanted to move away from an environment where animals were kept in relative captivity to an area where I felt I could do more for wildlife and the environment.

“I was offered a position in Kenya at Olarro and have made a rather large impact here on anti-poaching and environmental recuperation,” he said.

Two years into the job, Hofmeyr was shot in the arm while investigating a poaching incident.

The conservancy’s head of security, Justin Mathews, said everyone was on high alert following the attack on Hofmeyr.

“We have obviously heightened security and hope our guys on the ground will be able to catch the attacker.

“William has given us a rough description of the attacker and we hope that the community will also help us find who did it.”