{"id":15661,"date":"2025-08-09T11:54:34","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T19:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/?p=15661"},"modified":"2025-11-20T11:31:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T19:31:09","slug":"texas-big-game-hunter-killed-while-stalking-african-cape-buffalo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/2025\/08\/09\/texas-big-game-hunter-killed-while-stalking-african-cape-buffalo\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas big game hunter killed while stalking African Cape buffalo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NPR<\/p>\n<p>A Texas real estate magnate and trophy hunter was killed by a Cape buffalo during a hunting expedition in South Africa, according to a safari company, which described the incident as <strong>&#8220;sudden and unprovoked.&#8221; (hahahahaha)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Asher Watkins had been tracking the bull for a kill when the large horned animal staged an attack first.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Asher was fatally injured in a sudden and unprovoked attack by an unwounded buffalo he was tracking together with one of our professional hunters and one of our trackers,&#8221; said Hans Vermaak, leader of the safari company Coenraad Vermaak Safaris (CVS), in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cvsafaris.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside id=\"ad-backstage-wrap\" class=\"ad-wrap backstage\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<div class=\"ad-config-wrap\"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div id=\"resg-s1-81907-100\" class=\"bucketwrap internallink insettwocolumn inset2col \">\n<div class=\"bucket img\">\n<div class=\"bucketblock\">\n<h3><span style=\"color: #4a474b; font-size: 16px;\">&#8220;The family and our team members who were present at the time are understandably shaken. Out of respect for the family&#8217;s privacy as well as our staff members involved, we will not be sharing further details,&#8221; Vermaak also said.<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>He described Watkins and his family as &#8220;long-standing friends and part of the CVS family.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Cape buffalo are considered one of the &#8220;most &#8216;wanted&#8217; dangerous game animal by trophy hunters across the globe,&#8221; according to the safari company.<\/p>\n<p>No other animal has &#8220;a more fearsome reputation than a cape buffalo!,&#8221; the safari company\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cvsafaris.com\/animals\/cape-buffalo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Responsible for several deaths and many injuries to hunters each year, the buffalo is regarded as the most dangerous animal to pursue in Africa, let alone the world,&#8221; CVS also said.<\/p>\n<p>The nature of Watkins&#8217; death \u2013 being killed by the same animal he had sought to take down \u2013 sparked discussions online among animal rights groups and activists on the ethics of trophy hunting.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Asher Watkins went on a luxury hunting trip in South Africa when he stalked a Cape buffalo,&#8221; animal rights group PETA\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DNCGjVFxcwR\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote on Instagram<\/a>. &#8220;The terrified buffalo was cornered and retaliated. Animals aren&#8217;t trophies or wall decorations. Trophy hunting must end!&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"resg-s1-81907-101\" class=\"bucketwrap internallink insettwocolumn inset2col \">\n<div class=\"bucket img\">\n<div class=\"bucketblock\">\n<h3><span style=\"color: #4a474b; font-size: 16px;\">A comment under the post that said &#8220;cheers to the buffalo&#8221; has racked up thousands of likes.<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Watkins led the real estate brokerage firm Watkins Ranch Group, where he was responsible for multimillion-dollar properties across Texas, Colorado and Arkansas.<\/p>\n<p>Watkins was a lifelong outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing and hunting, according to his company biography.<\/p>\n<p>Watkins&#8217; mother Gwen, daughter Savannah, brother Amon and stepfather Tony are among his surviving relatives, the safari company said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NPR A Texas real estate magnate and trophy hunter was killed by a Cape buffalo during a hunting expedition in South Africa, according to a safari company, which described the incident as &#8220;sudden and unprovoked.&#8221; (hahahahaha) Asher Watkins had been tracking the bull for a kill when the large horned animal staged an attack first. &hellip; <\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link btn\" href=\"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/2025\/08\/09\/texas-big-game-hunter-killed-while-stalking-african-cape-buffalo\/\">Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15662,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15661"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15661"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15822,"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15661\/revisions\/15822"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}