Chimps launch savage attack on man at South Africa game reserve

The Chimp Eden Rehabilitation Centre/PA

A man is fighting for his life after two chimpanzees attacked him and dragged him for more than a mile at a remote game reserve in South Africa.

The man, believed to be student from the US studying chimp behaviour, was bitten multiple times at the Jane Goodall Institute Chimp Eden.

Witnesses say the animals grabbed the victim by his feet and yanked him into their enclosure.

Paramedics were called but had to wait for armed escorts before they could go in and treat him, says a report from NBC.

The man was then taken by ambulance to a private hospital in Nelspruit,

In a press statement, Jeffrey Wicks of the Netcare911 medical emergency services said the victim was leading a tour group at the reserve when two chimps grabbed him.

Reports in South African newspaper Beeld say the victim lost part of an ear and parts of his fingers.

PA

The institute, which opened in 2005, is home to chimps rescued from Africa, where they are hunted for their meat or held captive as pets. Some of the animals have been abused before they were rescued by the institute.

There have been a number of wild attacks on people in South Africa in recent months. In May, a British woman was savaged by cheetahs at a game reserve in South Africawhile in February, a man was attacked and killed by a lion at a zoo farm.

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