Renewed effort to track lions missing on West Rand

TRACKING experts are hopeful of finding the five lions that have been roaming around Fochville on Johannesburg’s West Rand for several weeks.

It was reported last week that a male lion had been roaming around the area, but earlier this week it was confirmed that five lions had been spotted.

Drew Abrahamson‚ of the Captured in Africa Foundation‚ who had been alerted about the lion by the Green Scorpions last month‚ said the trackers were reconsidering their plans.

“We came across multiple tracks‚ especially around waterholes‚ which made the search difficult. The tracks were crossing over each other so it was not initially possible to say 100% for sure that what we were looking at was a lion’s tracks‚” she said last week.

At the time‚ two donkeys‚ a cow‚ and an impala were victim to the lions.

“We’re definitely going to find them,” she said.

Abrahamson said they were planning on putting out some bait and traps this weekend in an attempt to capture the lions.

“The biggest challenge is that we are looking in a very big area. The terrain itself is an open area and it’s actual bushveld‚” she said.

Abrahamson said they believed the lions had escaped from a private owner who did not necessarily have the right permits.

“There are no game farms or conservation reserves in the area.

“If they escaped from a private owner who didn’t have permits‚ it might explain the fact that no one has come forward yet‚” she said.