The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Watkins, a Texas native, received a bachelor’s degree in business from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Watkins was a real estate executive specialising in ranches and recreational properties.Credit: Facebook
He is survived by a brother, his mother and his stepfather, according to the safari operator, which described his family as longtime friends of the company.
Coenraad Vermaak Safaris arranges safaris in Botswana, Cameroon, Mozambique and Tanzania in addition to South Africa. The company describes the Bambisana Limpopo – the 20,000-hectare wilderness in South Africa where Watkins was killed – as a “hunter’s paradise”.
It says the area is ideal for “pursuing your dream buffalo”.
“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,” the company’s website says.
“Crafty and belligerent, he seeks refuge in thickets when wounded or danger approaches!”
On Facebook, Watkins devoted a page to his exploits as a hunter, posting photos of himself with various wild animals that he had killed, including a Sonoran Desert mule deer and a mountain lion. As of Thursday, Texas time, access to the page had been set to private.
After Watkins’ death, some of his other public-facing social media accounts were sprinkled with comments from people criticising his hunting activities.
In a 2018 post, Watkins, who appeared to have been associated with the Dallas Safari Club, wrote: “Hunting Is Conservation”.
The Dallas Safari Club did not respond Thursday to requests for comment.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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