Millionaire hunter gored to death by 200 stone buffalo he was trying to kill in £7,500 hunt

A trophy hunter has been killed by the animal he had been tracking after it turned around and charged at him with great speed.

Hunting trip company Coenraad Vermaak Safaris said that a 52-year-old man named Asher Watkins had been tracking a buffalo when it 'fatally injured' him.

They said in a statement: "It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts we confirm the tragic death of our client and friend Asher Watkins from the USA.

"On Sunday, while on a hunting safari with us in South Africa's Limpopo Province, Asher was fatally injured in a sudden and unprovoked attack by an unwounded buffalo.

"He was tracking it together with one of our professional hunters and one of our trackers. This is a devastating incident, and our hearts go out to his loved ones.

Asher Watkins appears to have been a keen hunter (Facebook/Asher Watkins Outdoors)

"We are doing everything we can to support the family members who are here with us and those back in the United States as they navigate this tragic loss."

According to The Sun, the 52-year-old American had shot and killed a waterbuck on the first day of the hunting trip in South Africa, and then on the second day, he'd pursued a Cape Buffalo that weighed up to 200 stone.

However, the mighty mammal he had been hunting in the hopes of gaining a new trophy turned around and charged at the hunter, slamming its weighty frame into the 52-year-old and killing him almost instantly.

Cape Buffalo can run at speeds of up to 37mph, according to The National Geographic, so the impact of that sort of weight was fatal for the millionaire hunter, and they are among the deadliest animals in South Africa, as they are thought to kill around 200 people a year.

The Cape Buffalo is responsible for around 200 deaths a year (Getty Stock Photo)

Watkins' ex-wife, Courtney, and his daughter have been informed of his death, with Courtney posting on social media that they had been 'in a state of shock and heartbreak ever since' hearing about Asher's death.

Outside of hunting, Asher Watkins ran a business where he sold luxury ranches worth as much as £30 million. The Sun further reports that the hunt supposedly cost $10,000 (£7,500).

The website for the safari he went on stressed that the Cape Buffalo had the most 'fearsome reputation' of the creatures you could hunt with them, and they are 'the most dangerous animal to pursue in Africa'.

The risk of death is an occupational hazard in hunting, and more than one hunter has ended up becoming the hunted when faced with the animals they were going to shoot.

Stressing that they kill several hunters each year, the safari experts say that the animals are known to charge without provocation, though they say this makes the hunt' thrilling and exhilarating'.