South Africa has been rocked by several incidences of cheetah attacks over the past week, leading to an outcry for an end to wild animal petting.

According to Algoa FM, a 3-year-old boy was attacked by a cheetah on a farm in the Free State on Sunday.

Sadly, the boy succumbed to his injuries en-route to a Bloemfontein hospital via helicopter.

The owner of the farm, wildlife filmmaker Joh Varty, says on Facebook that while he takes full responsibility for the child’s death, the attack was the result of his workers’ carelessness.

“On the Friday night a large amount of booze was smuggled into the compound,” he says, seemingly shifting blame to his employees. “The gate that blocks the cheetah from entering the compound was carelessly left open.”