Police are investigating the death of a 50-year-old man who was attacked by a buffalo on a Polokwane farm on Thursday.

The farm owner, also in the way of the beast, was injured in the attack but narrowly escaped death by climbing a tree.

Limpopo police said in a statement on Saturday they had opened an inquest into the death at a farm in Steenbokpan.

According to the statement, the victim was with the farm owner and a photographer when the buffalo attacked him.

He died instantly.

“Though the farm owner tried to rescue him by firing some shots at the buffalo, the buffalo chased and attacked him as well. He escaped by climbing a tree and the photographer managed to keep a safe distance.”

The man was declared dead on the scene and the owner was taken to hospital for medical treatment.

Provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Thembi Hadebe has called on communities and especially farmers and tourists “to be extra cautious when around such animals to avoid loss of lives”.

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