- Lioness dies
- 15 pigs killed on a nearby farm
- It is said that three lions had in fact escaped on that fateful night.
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The lioness that escaped from a wild life rehabilitation centre two weeks ago was traced and found near to where she had escaped. She was killed during the recapture process.
The 18 month old lioness had reportedly escaped during load shedding on 23 September. Teams of local farmers, the police, the Virginia SPCA and the Nature Conservation have been searching the area intensively for two weeks. Various sightings were reported during this time, and she was seen near the Willem Pretorius Games Reserve and another sighting placed her near Winburg.
Late on Saturday night (01/09) the lioness was spotted next to the reserve from which she had escaped two weeks prior.
“Attempts were made for a successful capture, but the lioness had to be put down. Further investigations revealed that a local farmer lost a total of 15 pigs killed on his farm during this time,” says Sgt Mahlomola Kareli, Free State SAPS communication officer.
Kareli says investigations are underway to establish if they were killed by the same lioness.
Vista understands from an informed source that three lions had in fact escaped on that fateful night.
Thea Smit, chairman of the Virginia and Bloemfontein SPCA, says the poor animal did not ask to be there, she escaped because of her circumstances.
“The owners claim that it was load shedding, but that’s not the case, because if you have those animals in captivity, surely you make provision for load shedding,” she says.
Smit says a group of lions had to be moved into one enclosure, as they were going to be exported to Morocco.
“They have a big order there for live lions to go into zoos and private ownership,” says Smit.
Smit who is passionate about lion farming, and the fall out from the lion trade, says that the condition of the sale was that the lions had to be familiar with each other so that they could actually place them easier.
“So it was overcrowding. And my opinion is, in the process of moving them all into one enclosure, she escaped. So I feel terrible for the lion, because she was born in captivity. In nature, they stay with their mothers for up to three years. Here they are removed at the age of two weeks,” she says
Smit says the young animal was out there for two weeks, not knowing how to look after herself and obviously hungry, scared, not knowing what was going on.
