Saemi Ono, from Kumamoto Prefecture, was attacked when she was returning to a car after taking photos at a designated place in the Lion and Cheetah Park in a western suburb of Harare, the capital, the ministry said.

She suffered severe injuries to a thigh and was transported to a hospital in Harare, where she underwent surgery twice but died, the ministry said. There were around eight other tourists as well as guards nearby, but no one else was injured.

According to relatives, Ono left Japan on Aug. 6 with five friends and arrived in Zimbabwe on Aug. 7. She was scheduled to leave the southern African country Aug. 17.

An increasing number of tourists from around the world, especially Japan and Europe, have been visiting southern Africa including Zimbabwe and South Africa for sightseeing at national parks and privately owned safari parks.

In November 2002, a Japanese woman was shot to death in an attack on a group of tourists traveling in a car in a national park in Zambia.

The Japan Times Weekly: Aug. 27, 2005
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