7 lions escape from KZN game reserve

The lions were reportedly spotted outside the western boundary fence by visitors at the nature reserve, Zululand Observer reported.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife spokesperson Musa Mntambo said: “Seven lions chased a giraffe, which found itself cornered against the fence. The giraffe kicked down the fence with the lions in pursuit.”

Mntambo added the lions killed the giraffe outside the reserve and could not get back in.

By Monday afternoon six of the lions had been captured and released inside the reserve, but the seventh, which could not be caught, was put down.

Meanwhile a Karoo lion that has been on the loose for three weeks was spotted on Thursday evening about 20km from the Karoo National Park, where it had escaped.

SANParks spokesperson Fayroush Ludick said that late on Thursday evening two rangers were sent in with a device known as a “lion caller”, which emulates the sounds of various animals in an attempt to lure the lion.

The trackers, of Shimane Safaris in Botswana, had followed the lion’s spoor into a mountainous area that was just 20km from the northern boundary of the park.

The three-year-old male was at one stage spotted more than 100km from the park in the three weeks that it has been on the run.

The lion escaped the park on Friday, June 5, through a hole caused by flood damage of the perimeter fence of the park.

– Caxton News Service