Residents of Fochville, located in the West Rand, might want to lay low for a little while.
There are now five lions on the prowl, with police having spotted the pride when investigating a cow calf that had been killed. Whilst on the scene, SAPS saw the pride emerge from the darkness – one large male and four smaller lions.
Drew Abrahamson, from the Captured in Africa Foundation, spoke to Traveller24:
Abrahamson said they had gone out to the scene and had tracked the lions until 3:00 on Saturday morning. She said they had returned to Johannesburg this morning to collect additional crates and other equipment, and to work on a new strategy, before returning to the site at around 15:00 on Saturday afternoon.
“The lions appear to be wandering around between farms in the area, but we have identified a general pattern to their movements,” she said…
Abrahamson said they were still not sure where the Lions originated from.
“Lions are known to cover vast distances, especially if there are no other prides in the vicinity to limit their movements,” she said.
She said the lions could have come from the Free State or North West provinces, and said it was still unclear whether they were wild or bred in captivity.
That report was from Friday and Saturday, but last night Abrahamson again warned residents of Fochville.
EWN below:
Abrahamson said: “Take extra precaution, don’t walk around and if you need to travel in the evening, go in a vehicle.”
The Captured in Africa organisation says it was notified of one lion on the loose two weeks ago but on Thursday police in the area spotted another four.
The organisation says it’s working closely with police, Disaster Management and farmers to locate five lions.
There goes your ‘sweat out the weekend’s excess’ Monday jog.
CCTV footage actually captured one of the lions a few weeks back. Via THIS tweet:
VIDEO: CCTV spots a missing lion in Fochville, Gauteng, 3 weeks ago. The lion has been missing for the past 6 weeks. @News24 pic.twitter.com/mjYUOUjemb
— James de Villiers (@pejames) September 7, 2017
Not ideal.
According to Carl Thornton, the head of Pittrack K9, an NGO that specialises in anti-poaching and tracking operations, they have hatched a plan:
Thornton said the capture operation involved baiting the cats with a carcass injected with sedatives.
“You chain a carcass to a tree and then play a distress call of a buffalo calf,” he said. The hope is to capture them alive and place them in reserves.
Let’s see how that one works out, then.
[sources:traveller24&ewn&iol]
