A lioness that escaped a wildlife lodge near Ventersburg in the Free State after loadshedding disabled a secured gate, has been found and euthanised.
This lioness – her belly full from a recent kill – approaches a Tswalu waterhole to slake her thirst.
The lioness escaped Tara Wildlife Lodge at 4 am on 23 September after the electrified gate to the enclosure was disabled during loadshedding.
A search team consisting of police officers and nature conservation officials eventually spotted her on 1 October close to where it had escaped.
A local farmer reported a loss of 15 pigs, and authorities are yet to establish if this is correlated to the lion.
Attempts were made to safely capture the animal, but the search team had to resort to putting the animal down, said Free State police spokesperson Mahlomola Kareli.
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