Overview

• Nicolas Hohls, 27, was attacked by two spotted hyenas while sleeping in a tent with a small opening at Cape Vidal in KwaZulu-Natal.
• He suffered severe bites to his face, scalp, leg, and hand and underwent emergency and plastic surgeries at Netcare The Bay, receiving about 70 stitches.
• Hohls fought off the animals by forcing a hand into one hyena’s mouth and pressing a thumb into the other’s eye before his father rushed him on a two-hour drive to hospital.
• Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife confirmed this incident and a similar attack at the same campsite a month earlier, and it urged visitors to keep tents fully closed.
• Reserve authorities warned that food waste and feeding can habituate hyenas to people and said they will attempt to capture the animals to decide next steps.