LION ON THE LOOSE

Sifundiso Ndlovu Chronicle Reporter
BULAWAYO residents have been warned to be on the alert after a lion – first sighted at Dambari near Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage 10 days ago – was seen roaming Waterford suburb.
The jungle cat has evaded a small army of armed police officers and tranquilizer-toting game rangers from the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.

Terrified Waterford residents Susan Rice and Idzai Durani have been describing how they came face-to-face with the lion along Coventry Road in Waterford – barely 5km from the city centre.

Rice said they were at a neighbour’s funeral wake on Sunday evening when they saw the king of the jungle just outside the gate.
“We had just got into the car which was parked outside the gate when the lion passed at an arm’s length from the car. We screamed and hooted and the lion strolled past, disappearing into tall grass by the roadside,” said Rice.

“We called the police who came with the rangers in the morning and confirmed they been tracking the same lion. They told us that it had killed a donkey and a cow,” said Rice.

Durani said authorities should capture the lion before it killed anyone.
“They must act before something bad happens. Not all people may live to tell the story like we did,” she said.

Parks officials confirmed, after seeing the animal’s spoor that, it was the same one that they have been tracking since last week.
A official who declined to be named as he was not cleared to speak to the media said: “I confirm we positively identified a spoor of a lion which was spotted by two women last night (Sunday). We’re tracking it with an intention of putting it down before it attacks people.”

He urged Bulawayo residents and anyone coming into contact with the lion not to run away but to stand their ground, adding that if they looked composed the animal would leave them alone.

“Wild lions usually leave you alone if you stand your ground, so members of the public must not run away if they see the lion,” he said.
The lion was first reported at Dambari near Chipangali and was tracked to Mthombothemba Dam near Hope Fountain last Friday.

Chipangali insists that all its lions – kept in an enclosure – are accounted for, denying persistent rumours the big cat may have escaped from there.