Runaway lion fathers cubs in new area

Sylvester, a lion who made headlines two years ago after escaping from the Karoo National Park in Beaufort West, recently became a father.

He was relocated to Kuzuko private reserve, bordering the Addo Elephant National Park in the Eastern Cape, after his sneaky escape. He quickly made friends there, especially with Fielies, a younger male lion. Eventually, he met the lionesses at the reserve, Angel and Nika. Sylvester and Angel paired up and Angel recently gave birth to twin cubs.

“It was a complete surprise,” said the reserve’s general manager, Gerhard de Lange. “A contraceptive was planted under the skin of each lioness in January 2017, so I had no idea it would be possible for them to get pregnant.”

According to De Lange, lions’ gestation period is 110 days and since the cubs are about 12 weeks old, they must have been born in June. The cubs were hidden until now. Lionesses hide their cubs for a while, which is why no one saw them.

“Because the lions are so well adapted to Kuzuko, I couldn’t tell that Angel was pregnant, because all the lions except for Sylvester are a bit overweight,” he said.

Because all the lions have GPS collars, he knows that Sylvester keeps an eye on the cubs when Angel and her sister Nika go hunting.

“Since they were born, Sylvester has made himself comfortable in the ravine. I haven’t seen him there yet, but his GPS collar indicated that he has visited the cubs. He has definitely seen more of the cubs than I have.”

The cubs are still too young for their sexes to be determined and at this stage they are very wary of vehicles.

The lionesses, Angel and Nika, were orphaned at about five months old and De Lange and his team raised and released them into the wild after they were taught to look after themselves. They could not interact with them once they were released.

Sylvester and Fielies are a lot friendlier with De Lange, even though Sylvester was initially skittish when he came to Kuzuko.

“It’s a wonderful surprise and a great gift that Sylvester and Angel, who both had their share of hardship, bore two healthy cubs. It shows that conservation efforts executed correctly and with care can make a difference.” – Caxton News Service