Johannesburg - Rangers were Monday searching for
four male lions that escaped from the Kruger
National Park, a spokesman for the national wildlife parks said.
The lions were seen late Sunday near a road a few kilometres from the
park, SANParks spokesman William Mabasa said by phone.
It was not known how the lions got out of the park, most of which is
fenced.
The Tourism and Parks Agency of Mpumalanga province, where part of
the Kruger Park is located, said it was helping rangers and police in
their search.
"We urge the communities to be alert and inform us of any sightings,"
said Johannes Nobunga, chief executive officer of the agency.
"The terrain in which the search is being conducted poses some
challenges for the team, however we will continue to work with farm
owners and the community in the area to provide us with any
information that will assist us with this operation," he added in a
statement.
The escape of the four lions followed that of five lions in May. Four
of them were captured and taken back to the park, but the fifth one
has not been found. Mabasa said it may have returned to the park by
itself.
Lions occasionally wander out of the Kruger Park. "Sometimes an entire year passes without lions
escaping, and in other years we have a few cases of them
escaping," Mabasa said.