After an almost week-long search, a lion on the loose in the Mbombela area was finally recaptured early this morning.

The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) confirmed the successful capture of a lion at around 02:00.

The cat was first spotted in the Hermansburg area near the R40 on Sunday and was then seen gallivanting in the Glenwood and Hilltop areas before turning up near The Rest Estate.

“The lion was darted and captured near the Sekelbos Estate in Mbombela. More details will be made available officially,” the MTPA’s spokesperson, Simphiwe Shungube, said.

While the lion was on the loose, residents were warned to stay indoors, especially after dark and joggers, hikers and cyclists were warned to be extra cautious.

The Nelspruit Concerned Citizens (NCC) community thanked everyone involved in the successful capture.

“We want to thank everybody who assisted in the capturing of the lion, especially the team from the MTPA who worked very hard trying to locate and capture the lion these last few weeks and following up on leads all hours of the night and day.

“We also want to thank the community and security companies of Nelspruit for providing information that helped the MTPA track the lion’s movements, which led to its capture.

“We also want to thank Naspoti [Security Solutions] and their AI monitoring, which provided the final video footage of when the lion was at Heuwelsig Estate,” the NCC said.