The ManicaPost
Freedom Mutanda in Chipinge
Zimbabwe National Parks officials set up a ‘blind’ and killed a three-year-old lion at Bangwe in Chipinge recently after the big cat had killed a cow and goats in the area during the course of the week.
Mbuya Muruwa, an octogenarian, who lives alone, lost three goats to brazen attacks by the prowling lion last Thursday night. The previous day, Jairos Murepa, suffered some livestock losses owing to the lion’s attacks. National Parks officials were alerted and they quickly responded.
‘’Parks officers came and set up an ambush. They stayed in the goat pen until the wee hours of the morning. The lion came and advanced to within a metre of them. It went away briefly before they hit it with chilling accuracy. It ran for about a hundred metres and they only discovered that it had died when it was daybreak,’’ said a villager who refused to be named.
The remains of some goats preyed on by the lion
A wildlife expert, Prosper Sigauke, said people should do the basics in terms of adhering to the demands of the parks officials.
‘’People must not eat all the meat off a carcass after a lion has struck. Moreover, all livestock have to be properly housed in a kraal or pen. Lions find it easy to attack livestock that are roaming around,’’ he said.
