Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife says it cannot confirm nor deny the presence of lions in the Nembe area, but has deployed rangers and asked to the public to report sightings or any animal remains that might be lion-kills.

This follows reports from three different families claiming to have seen a male and a female lion lurking in the area.

According to a statement released by Ezemvelo’s communication manager Musa Mntambo, field rangers were immediately deployed to the location to confirm the lions’ presence, track, and catch them.

They did not find any lion tracks in the area, but Mntambo says it is important to note that the Nembe area has a hard surface, making it difficult to detect any spoors.

Unclear where lions would come from

“Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park, a game reserve home to lions, is more than 100km away. Recently, Ezemvelo has not received any reports of livestock killed by lions. It would be a rare occasion if the lions have walked for more than 100km without killing any livestock,” says Mntambo.

Ezemvelo’s ecologist Dr Dvae Druce says he highly doubts that the animals seen were lions and doubts even more that they would come from the park.

“Hluhluwe to Mlalazi is an extremely long way, and it has a lot of developed areas. When lions have left the iMfolozi section of the park in the past, they have always followed the river, either the White Umfolozi towards oPhathe or the Black Umfolozi up towards Babanango/Vryheid,” says Druce.

“However, recently we have witnessed strange incidents in other provinces of people keeping dangerous wild animals as pets. They could also be wild animals that escaped while in-transit,” adds Druce.

He says Ezemvelo cannot ignore such reports and must investigate any reports of dangerous wild animal sightings.

Ezemvelo asks community to report sightings

Ezemvelo has appealed to community members to inform the nearest police station if they see or hear the lions roar.

They also appealed to the community members to notify them if they find any animal remains, as that will allow them to determine if the dead animal was killed by lions or other wild animals living outside of protected areas.