A 2022 hunting trip in Argentina ended with two deaths: a Mexican hunting leader was fatally injured by the water buffalo he had shot, and a guide then killed the buffalo.
Mario Alberto Canales Najjar, 64, was president of the Mexican Hunting Federation when the incident occurred on October 7, 2022, at a rural property in Entre Ríos province. Reporting by EL PAÍS, drawing on Argentine accounts, said he approached within about 30 meters and fired a .408-caliber rifle. The shot did not bring the animal down.
The wounded buffalo charged
According to the reported reconstruction, the buffalo charged and struck Canales Najjar repeatedly. The guide accompanying the group shot the animal several times before reaching the hunter.
The property was remote, with poor cellular service and no direct ambulance access. Canales Najjar was taken away in a private vehicle but was pronounced dead before or upon reaching medical care. An autopsy reportedly found broken ribs and sternum injuries, along with internal trauma.
The episode was sometimes retold online as a simple story of an animal “taking revenge.” That assigns a human motive that cannot be established. A more defensible account is that a wounded, threatened animal reacted violently after being shot. Buffalo are large, powerful bovids, and close-range encounters can be fatal.
The hunt faced questions over authorization
The legal and regulatory details require care. Early reports said prosecutors opened an inquiry into the death and the permits connected to the hunting trip. Argentine outlet Análisis Digital reported that prosecutor Martina Cedrés planned to archive the death inquiry because evidence did not indicate that another person caused Canales Najjar’s death.
That report also said the group’s authorization covered pigeon hunting, not big-game buffalo hunting, and that the property was not currently authorized as a big-game hunting preserve. The prosecutor described those permit issues as administrative rather than proof of homicide or another crime by a third party.
However, it is misleading to say all legal scrutiny definitively ended there. In February 2023, regional environmental outlet ERA Verde reported that a Gualeguaychú court accepted a complaint from two animal and environmental organizations seeking investigation of possible unlawful hunting, animal cruelty and official misconduct. Public reporting reviewed for this article does not establish a later final ruling on that separate complaint.
A deadly encounter with no winner
The verified facts are stark without embellishment. Canales Najjar entered the property to hunt a buffalo. He shot the animal, the buffalo charged him, and the guide killed the buffalo. A person died, and so did the animal targeted in the hunt.
Supporters of regulated hunting often argue that properly managed hunting can generate conservation revenue or support rural economies. Critics answer that those claims do not settle the ethical question of killing an animal for recreation—and this case also shows why authorization, site rules and safety controls cannot be treated as minor paperwork.
The buffalo was not participating in a contest or choosing a symbolic confrontation. It was an animal placed in a life-or-death encounter. The tragedy is a reminder that wild and semi-wild animals are not passive trophies, and that turning a powerful living being into a close-range target can have irreversible consequences for everyone involved.
Sources
- EL PAÍS: Head of Mexican Hunting Federation killed by charging buffalo
- Análisis Digital: Prosecutor’s account of the death inquiry and permits
- ERA Verde: Court accepted later complaint over the hunt
- El Universal: Contemporary report on the fatal incident
