Who let the lions out?

2003-08-08 16:45

Port Elizabeth - Four fully-grown lions escaped from the Addo Crocodile and Lion Ranch near Uitenhage on Friday and wandered onto a nearby dairy farm before being re-captured, police said.

Captain Gavin Baker said: "The escaped lions were never a threat to people or livestock and no police action is required at this stage although it is not yet clear how the animals got out of their compound."

Ranch owner Lawrence van Straaten, told Sapa: "We've got 25 lions of both sexes and all ages on the property and about 05:00 this morning (Friday) I woke up when the dogs began barking and I heard the lions roaring so I went down to see and found their compound open and the chain missing."

Van Straaten said he alerted neighbouring farmers immediately and they took up a search.

"Nine of the animals, young ones about two years old, were quickly rounded up but four older animals had gone out of the gate onto the public road. The gate was unlocked and open. I'm not saying it was done deliberately but I'm certainly going to increase security from now on."

The four missing lions were spotted on a nearby dairy farm.

Van Straaten said: "These animals are used to us so we just went up to them and darted them by hand, then we took them back home. They were never a threat to anyone or anything."

Conservation

Asked whether the missing gate chain and the unlocked main gate could be the work of animal activists van Straaten said: "My attitude may have created enemies".

"Anything that leads to indiscriminate breeding of animals for money is wrong - the new act (now the Bio-Diversity Bill) could mean more permits being issued. Animals should be bred for conservation not for hunting."

Conservation officials visited the park on Friday and went away satisfied, Van Straaten said.

Environmental affairs spokesperson Phindile Makgwakgwa told Sapa: "The Bio-Diversity Bill will attend to the entire question of a national policy to include so-called canned hunting. At the moment the bill is only in the public discussion stage and a document had been published for this purpose. There will be public hearings on August 19 and then it can go through the parliamentary process."

Six lions, including three juveniles, were seen wandering around Hazyview in the Mpumalanga lowveld over the weekend of July 14 by residents of the town.

A spokesperson for the Mpumalaga Parks Board, David Nkambule, said the lions were later darted and put in a boma to be tested for bovine tuberculosis before being released back into the national park.

- SAPA