UPDATE: Intensive three-day search in Colenso and Winterton for elusive ‘lion’

Fear and disbelief rippled through the Midlands community when a fully grown male lion was sighted close to a school on Thursday.

READ THIS:  BE EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS: Lion on the loose between Winterton and Colenso

Winterton police received a frantic call, alerting them that a lion had charged at a 14-year-old who was walking in the vicinity of Bersig Farm.

The teen claimed that he was walking along the road when an adult lion ran out of a field and chased him. Women who were on the roadside shouted and this scared the lion off. The police called in the experts.

Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife Ladysmith District Officer Ephraim Mavuso was summoned. Mr Mavuso lets out an incredulous ‘yoh’ when asked how he reacted to this news.

“I was confused because a wild lion will not be stopped by noise from a human so I assumed it must be a lion that’s been held in captivity and escaped,” said Mr Mavuso.

A call was made to the only game reserve in the area and it was confirmed that all the lions were accounted for. A large search party comprising of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife staff, farmers and police combed the area between Colenso and Winterton on Thursday.

There was no sign of a lion. On day two a helicopter was used and about 10km around the area was searched. This ended with no result.

“There was not even a spoor,” remarked Mr Mavuso.

Day three also concluded without any trace of the evasive lion.

“I advised farmers on the first day that if any livestock is missing or killed, they should report it to me immediately. We have a trained dog available that will be able to pick up the scent of a lion within an hour, if it is sighted again. Right now we are relying on the public for more information or another sighting,” he explained.

However, Mr Mavuso who has 28 years’ experience with ‘dangerous’ and wild animals says he thinks the ‘lion’ referred to might be a dog that went missing in Winterton about two weeks ago.

He produces a photo that shows a large brown dog with a mass of fur around its neck, short fur on its body and a ball of fur at the end of its tail.

“After the dog’s owner saw the message on WhatsApp, he called me and showed me the photo of his dog. I am not saying that there is no lion because if someone is hurt, it would be an error on my part but if this dog was about 50 meters from me, I would also think it was a lion,” Mr Mavuso reasoned.

He added that he would ask permission from the lost dog’s owner before forwarding the photo into the public domain.

For now, Mr Mavuso and his team are still on the trail of an elusive lion and request that the public contact him 083 591 8907 with any useful information.

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