A lion has torn apart and eaten an employee of a game reserve in South Africa after the man took an ill-advised night-time stroll.

The 30-year-old victim, Johannes Matshe, an employee of the reserve, met his gruesome fate while walking through Dinokeng Game Reserve in Gauteng after dark on Sunday night. 

At some stage in the night, the big cat pounced on the unsuspecting employee, ripping him limb from limb in a merciless attack. 

Stomach-churning images of the grisly scene, which MailOnline has chosen not to publish, showed how the flesh was torn from Matshe’s skull while his boot-clad leg bone lay twisted in the grass. 

Reserve spokesman Hartogh Streicher revealed that it was an unfortunate operations manager who stumbled upon the human remains at 10:37 on Monday morning. 

A lion is pictured at the Dinokeng Game Reserve in South Africa

Streicher made it clear that wandering the reserve after sunset was strictly forbidden. As he extended condolences to Matshe’s grieving family, he solemnly reminded everyone of the peril facing those who do not abide by the reserve’s safety rules.

‘Lions are nocturnal animals, driven by their natural instinct and hunting patterns, and may perceive a person as a normal prey species,’ he said.

He added that the reserve was seeking out expert advice about handling the lion following the attack.

‘Concerning the management of the lions responsible for this killing, no decision has been reached whether they have become unnaturally dangerous, but the reserve is receiving expert advice to make the most responsible decision possible for all parties concerned.’

He concluded his statement with an impassioned plea to all landowners to keep a watchful eye on their gamekeepers and visitors, reporting any breaches of the rules to prevent a tragic recurrence of the harrowing incident.

The Hammanskraal state police, under the leadership of Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi, have taken charge of the investigation and are trying to understand how and why Matshe entered the reserve alone at night. 

In 2018, a 22-year-old woman met a horrific end when a lion launched a fatal attack (stock image)

This is not the first time that the Dinokeng Game Reserve has witnessed such a gruesome scene. 

In 2018, a 22-year-old woman met a similarly horrific end when a lion launched a fatal attack. 

She had been accompanying a friend who had gone to interview the camp’s manager when she was pounced upon.

In the wake of that attack, reserve management sought to clarify that the attack had occurred within a restricted conservation zone inaccessible to the general public, and involved a lion that was not part of the reserve’s population of wild, free-roaming lions.

Situated in the northeastern reaches of Gauteng, Dinokeng reserve boasts 19,000 hectares of land and is the only Big Five game reserve in the province. 

Big Five is a term used to describe what hunters deem the most dangerous animals to pursue – the African elephant, Cape buffalo, African lion, leopard and rhinoceros.

Pub and hotel chain Fuller, Smith & Turner has estimated it lost over £5million in sales from rail strikes during the last financial year.

Industrial action by tube and train workers led many commuters to work from home, which had a ‘particularly detrimental’ impact on its Central London establishments, the group told investors on Thursday.  

Fuller’s has already blamed the strikes the strikes for weaker-than-hoped sales over the crucial festive trading period, which were down 5 per cent on pre-pandemic levels.

Difficulties: Even with an absence of Covid-related restrictions, Fuller’s said the trading environment was ‘very challenging’ due to major inflationary pressures 

But overall turnover climbed by a third to £336.6million for the 53 weeks ending 1 April thanks to the return of office workers and international tourists in significant numbers.

The London-based business revealed that like-for-like revenues at its Central London sites jumped by 40.1 per cent, while they grew by 17.5 per cent at its managed pubs and hotels business.

Footfall at the company’s outlets for most of the previous two years was severely affected by temporary closures, capacity limits and rigid quarantine rules for inbound travellers.

But even with an absence of Covid-related restrictions, Fuller’s said the trading environment was ‘very challenging’ due to major inflationary pressures.

The firm has seen a £6.6million surge in its total energy bills, as well as a noticeable increase in food and drink costs.

Further cost hikes came from the UK government’s boost to the National Living Wage and the Bank of England raising interest rates on multiple successive occasions.

Nonetheless, Fuller’s said its adjusted pre-tax profits still soared by more than three-quarters to £12.7million. It also saw a 30 per cent bump in dividends per share.

For the first ten weeks of the new fiscal year, the group observed a 13.9 per cent increase in like-for-like sales.  

Simon Emeny, chief executive of Fuller’s, said: ‘I am more optimistic about the future than I have been since before the pandemic. While the well-documented inflationary environment has been a challenge, there are positive signs on the horizon. 

‘In addition, we are ever hopeful of a resolution to the ongoing train strikes to allow us to further benefit from the increasing numbers of office workers and international tourists returning to the Capital.’

Trade body UKHospitality has estimated the rail strikes have cost the hospitality sector around £3.25billion since they started last year, including £1.5billion just last December, which coincided with the FIFA World Cup tournament in Qatar. 

Fuller, Smith & Turner shares were 5.1 per cent up at £5.56 just before markets closed on Thursday, making them one of the five best performers on the FTSE All-Share Index.

A fish and chip shop worker has gone above and beyond to ensure that customers in the seaside town of Whitby can enjoy their fare undisturbed. 

So invested in customer service is Corey Grieveson, 18, that he has taken to dressing up as an eagle to stop seagulls from interrupting the meals of locals and holidaymakers alike.

Seagulls are notorious for swooping down and stealing food on the Whitby seafront. 

Corey, who has lived in Whitby his whole life, told the BBC that people are ‘spending £30 on a meal for their family and it’s all gone’ thanks to the fast-acting birds.  

He added that he loves eagles and considers scaring away the gulls as ‘the perfect job’. 

Corey Grieveson, 18, dons an eagle costume to deter seagulls from stealing food from locals and holidaymakers on Whitby seafront 

Corey can often be seen flapping his wings and chasing after the seagulls in Whitby where he has become something of a local celebrity. 

‘This works, they’re not around now,’ he said. 

Not only does he receive regular praise from passersby for his efforts, but he also gets asked to pose for pictures in his eagle costume. 

Visitors can support Corey’s work by refraining from deliberately feeding the gulls. 

However, customers in Whitby are by no means having the worst time of it after a study found that gulls in the south of Britain, especially in the West Country, are bolder than those up north.

He has become something of a local celebrity and is frequently stopped by visitors asking him to pose for pictures

The greater presence of holidaymakers, with their ice creams and fish and chips, may have made the birds less timid, because the chances of being able to snatch some food are higher.

Researchers at the universities of Plymouth and Glasgow are carrying out a project using an app called Gulls Eye, which asks people to record their interactions with seagulls.

Early results show seagulls are less nervous in the south, where they are willing to get closer to people.

In Brixham, the popular Devon fishing town on the so-called ‘English riviera’, seagulls get within 11.8 metres – less than 40 feet – of people.

In Plymouth, where the city offers even more fast food options, the gulls approach at an average distance of 11.7 metres.

But further north, in Glasgow, they stay twice as far away, on average, at more than 80 feet, or 25 metres, from people.

In Shetland, this increases to almost 74 metres – more than 240 feet.

Dr Ruedi Nager, a seabird researcher from the University of Glasgow, who provided the snapshot results from across the UK, said: ‘There is a geographical difference in how bold seagulls are, it appears.

‘They are more willing to approach people in the south and more reluctant in the north.

‘In the south there may be more pasties and fish and chips being eaten, so there are more gains for seagulls.

‘But also there has been a decline in fishing on the south coast, so seagulls can’t get as much food from fishing discards as they used to.’

A female parliamentary staffer has been injured in the House of Representatives as Coalition MPs scrambled to exit the room – prompting a warning for all politicians to prevent another ‘disgusting’ incident happening again. 

Dan Tehan, Angus Taylor, Zoe McKenzie and Andrew Hastie were among seven MPs to apologise in the House of Representatives over the fracas on Wednesday morning.

The employee was pushed into the doorway and injured her arm as several MPs rushed to leave after Speaker Milton Dick ordered that the doors be locked for a division.

Mr Dick said: ‘I’m particularly disgusted by this behaviour and I will not tolerate it for staff.

‘For a staff member of this chamber to be treated in this way, when they are simply doing their job is disrespectful and a very serious matter.

‘I want to make it clear that I’m committed to ensuring that this building and this chamber are safe and respectful places of work. 

‘No staff members should be hurt in the course of doing their work in service of this House.’

A parliamentary staffer has been injured in the chamber as Coalition MPs scrambled to exit the room

Queensland MP Llew O’Brien issued a particularly heartfelt apology on Wednesday morning.

He said: ‘I unreservedly apologise to the house and yourself for leaving after your direction yesterday. And I also apologise to the staff if they were involved in this.

‘Staff here in the chamber do an incredible job and one of them is not crowd control. And I apologise to them for that.’

Zoe McKenzie added that she ‘deeply regrets any impact caused to a staff member involved’ in her attempt to leave the room.

Andrew Hastie said he ‘apologises unreservedly’ to the staffer involved. 

Zoe McKenzie and Angus Taylor were among the first to apologise

Andrew Hastie said he ‘apologises unreservedly’ to the staffer involved

On Tuesday night, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Tony Burke urged Mr Dick to review the footage of the incident.

‘Mr Speaker, regardless of Practice and standing orders, we cannot be in a position, as a House, where people are using their physical size to push past the members of staff after you have said, ”Lock the doors”,’ he said.

After the Speaker gives orders that the door be locked, no member is permitted from entering or leaving the chamber.

All MPs have been warned they will receive a letter reviewing the guidelines and expectations of them in their roles representing the community.

‘No member’s time is worth more than a staff member’s safety,’ he said.

Queensland MP Llew O’Brien (right) issued a particularly heartfelt apology on Wednesday morning

Six MPs voiced regret over the actions