The lion which has evaded authorities for a month, after escaping from the Karoo National Park, has been captured.
A relieved-sounding Reynold Thakhuli, SANParks spokesperson, told News24 on Wednesday night the lion dubbed “Mufasa” had been captured…and is safe and sound.
He said the lion was found on a farm outside Sutherland in the Northern Cape, about 300km from the Karoo National Park.
The male lion, estimated to be between two and four years old, went missing on February 15, and ranger and tracker teams have been working shifts to track him down.
The lion killed an eland and four sheep on his month long escapade.
Bidvest Protea Coin recently assisted the search effort by providing its high-tech helicopter equipped with forward-looking infrared cameras.
The last lion to hold the record for the longest disappearance was 4-year-old Sylvester in 2016. He managed to evade capture for two weeks.
Escaped lion darted on farm outside Sutherland and transported direct to Karootown police cell. Picture: Hester Obermeyer pic.twitter.com/jKzgClwrcl
— Julian Jansen (@JulianJansen) March 13, 2019
It was particularly dangerous for team members because the lion entered very difficult terrain, which meant that the predator had to be tracked on foot.
“They are people who go beyond the call of duty. They are our heroes,” Thakhuli said of the team.
