The hunt for the escaped Karoo National Park lion has finally ended after he was successfully darted in the vicinity of the Northern Cape town of Sutherland.
The animal that escaped from the boundaries of the Karoo National Park in mid-February, was darted in an area around 120 kilometres from the park on Wednesday at 6 pm.
Park Manager Nico van der Walt says this has been one of the most taxing experiences for the team involved who often slept in the veld and in the rain.
The CEO for SANParks Fundisile Mketeni extended his gratitude to the entire team as well as the farming community in the Northern and Western Cape for supplying information on identified tracks.
He said the help from Bidvest Protea Coin, offering one of their helicopters, was highly appreciated.
According to Van der Walt, trackers picked up a new track on Wednesday afternoon and followed it until the lion stormed out of the bush.
A SANParks helicopter was dispatched and the animal was successfully darted in the mountains.
Thankfully Sutherland SAPS provided a holding cell for the lion until the arrival of a crate from the Addo Elephant National Park.
The Lion who escaped from the Karoo National Park outside Beaufort West in February has been found and successfully darted. He woke up in the police holding cells in Sutherland this morning @SANParks @AlgoaFM pic.twitter.com/kZgDzMD1Aw
— AlgoaFMNews (@AlgoaFMNews) March 14, 2019
- African News Agency (ANA)
