Blame safari company initially over simian attack (9)
I believe the answer is:
scapegoat
'blame' is the definition.
'safari company initially over simian attack' is the wordplay.
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
'over' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'simian' becomes 'ape' (simian can mean a monkey or ape).
'attack' becomes 'goat' (go at).
The first letters of 'safari company' is 'sc'.
'sc'+'ape'+'goat'='SCAPEGOAT'
(Other definitions for scapegoat that I've seen before include "Can carrier" , "Someone to blame" , "One given the blame" , "Person blamed for the wrongdoings or mistakes of others" , "One who bears the blame for others" .)