The multi-millionaire owner of one of South Africa’s top game reserves was horrifically trampled to death as he tried to move a group of elephants away from tourist lodges.
FC Conradie, 39, who runs and co-owns the exclusive 5-star rated Gondwana Private Game Reserve, was suddenly charged at by a stampeding bull.
It is believed the six-ton African elephant mauled him with its tusks, then stamped on him repeatedly, leaving rangers unable to save him in the attack, which happened yesterday at 8am.
The horrific attack at the top-of-the-range reserve where famous celebrities enjoy private safaris happened while the £900 per-couple per-lodge per-night park was full.
It is not known if guests at the Big 5 park, which is home to lions, buffalo, rhino, leopard and the southernmost herd of elephants in Africa, witnessed the owner’s horrific killing.
It was the second grisly death of a staff member at the 27,000-acre game park close to Mossel Bay, just a 4-hour drive along the coastal tourist Garden Route from Cape Town.
In March last year, married father-of-one David Kandela, 36, was guiding a herd through the Eco Tent Lodge area of the reserve when an elephant suddenly attacked.
It impaled David on its tusks several times, then dragged him into the bush, where other elephants joined in and tore off his arms and legs, leaving just his head and torso.
Conradie, who also runs the Caylix Group sports management company, was said by staff to have a ‘love for elephants and nature’ and would often go out to photograph them.
Management staff had to break the news to his distraught wife of 10 years, La-ida, 33, who is said to be ‘inconsolable’ and their three young sons, thought to be aged 6, 11, and 12.
The family live in Stellenbosch in the wine growing region 30 miles from Cape Town, where she works for Moore Stephens, a global accounting and financial advisory company.
Popular boss FC had honours degrees in zoology, animal studies, commerce and marketing, and was known as an ‘ambitious entrepreneur and passionate about nature’.
A senior source at Gondwana said: ‘Because he is the boss man, everybody has been warned to say absolutely nothing or they will be out the same day, it is a big clamp down.
‘FC was a great guy to work for, and he loved his elephants, which were his favourite, and he felt he had a trust with them, but you have to never forget they may live in a reserve but are wild.
‘He will be greatly missed by all here’, he said.
An investigation has been launched into the second death, which bears similarities to David Kandela, who was killed by a former circus elephant called Bonnie.
Both the elephants that killed FC and David are understood to be part of the same herd, which is a favourite with rich tourists due to their normally friendly and docile nature.
The Gondwana Private Nature Reserve was refusing to comment on the actual incident.
A close friend of David’s said: ‘It would seem Gondwana did not realise he had a wife and a 10-year-old son, and she only found out when she read about his death on Facebook.
‘The reserve only dealt with his direct family in Zimbabwe, and she and Damian were left with nothing in compensation to help bring David’s son up or even offered counselling.
‘David was ushering a group of elephants through an Eco Tent Lodge area when the last one, Bonnie, turned on him and charged him, and by the time she was finished, little was left.
‘She was also told her husband and the other game rangers with him did not have guns to protect themselves and had to throw stones at Bonny in a desperate attempt to stop her.
‘For another accident where a member of staff is killed by an elephant so soon is extremely worrying. Bonny came to us from a circus, but nobody knew why she ended up here.
‘What happened to both are very similar, so it cannot be passed away as a one-off’ he said.
South African Police spokesman Warrant Officer Kappie Kapp said: ‘It was reported at 8am on Tuesday that an employee at Gondwana Game reserve was attacked by an elephant.
‘He had been trampled and mauled by the elephant, and the emergency services declared the man dead at the scene, and rangers moved the elephant away to another area.
‘An inquest has been opened and a full investigation is underway,’ he said.
A Gondwana Private Game Reserve spokesman said: ‘It is with profound sadness that we confirm the passing of FC Conradie, who was our CEO in a tragic incident earlier today.
‘It involved an elephant bull, and this heartbreaking event has shaken us all.
‘Our full support is first and foremost with his wife and family, who have suffered an unimaginable loss and we ask that their privacy be respected as they face this tragedy.
‘The leadership team are focused on providing every possible support to them and our staff, many of whom have lost both a leader and a friend and a mentor here at Gondwana.
‘We are working closely with the relevant authorities to fully understand the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident, and at this time, we are unable to provide further comment.
‘We thank everyone for their messages of compassion and support’, they said.
Earlier this month, two female tourists, including a British pensioner, were horrifically killed by a charging female elephant with a young calf while on a walking safari in Zambia
Easton Taylor, 68, from the UK and Alison Taylor, 67, from New Zealand, were trampled to death at the South Luangwa National Park despite tour guides firing shots to stop it.
In February this year, anti-poaching game ranger Philani Sibiya, 33, and a colleague were returning from a patrol and were attacked at the Munywana Conservancy in Zululand.
They surprised a group of elephants in the park near Hluhluwe, who panicked, and one bull charged and ran down and trampled to death ranger Sibiya as he fled for his life.
In January this year, a tourist, Shaik Ahmed, 59, was trampled to death in the Kruger by an elephant that charged his grandchildren aged 5 and 11 as he ran to protect them.
The eldest boy suffered leg injuries after it was swung around by the elephant’s trunk but when the brave granddad ran it dropped the boy and killed him near Crocodile Bridge.
And in July last year, a Spanish tourist who was with his bride-to-be was trampled to death in the Pilanesberg National Park near Sun City, two hours from Johannesburg.
He had got out of their hired car despite being warned not to and approached a herd of elephants drinking out of a lake, but was charged by a mother who had two calves.
The angry cow trampled him to death, and the males also trampled him as his fiancée screamed in horror, but there was nothing that could be done, and he was crushed.
Doomed Carlos Luna, 43, from Zaragoza, Spain, had tried to run back to the car when he realised the danger, but the herd caught him as tourists in half a dozen cars looked on.
In April last year, a crazed bull elephant attacked tourists out on a game drive in Zambia and after running alongside turned and headed straight for it and rammed it onto its roof.
The 5-ton bull elephant hit the safari truck at 25mph and its weight and momentum easily rolled it over in the Kafue National Park, killing Gail Mattison, 79, from Minnesota, USA.
Five other tourists were in the vehicle, with one seriously injured, but all survived the attack.
In May 2023, game ranger Kabelo Mashao was attacked and stamped to death by one of the most trusted elephants at Inverdoorn Game Reserve in Ceres Karoo, Western Province.
In 2017, a female game park employee was killed when an elephant charged a group of workers, goring her through the body with its tusks and trampling another worker.
Nothing could be done for the first woman who was skewered on the ivory tusk, but the second woman was airlifted to the hospital and survived despite suffering serious injuries.
As the world’s largest land mammal, the African bull elephant can weigh 6 tons and stand 13 feet to the shoulder and run up to 25mph and kill 500 people a year on the continent.
