BEAUFORT WEST NEWS - South African National Parks (SANParks) issued a statement this afternoon to reassure members of the public that measures are in place to safely capture the lion that escaped from the Karoo National Park earlier this week.
"A statement was released prematurely yesterday (Tuesday, 29 March) and SANParks apologises to the public for the incorrect statement, which did not accurately reflect the organization's position"
However, SANParks would like to make it known to the public that they are dealing with a dangerous and ever changing situation and as such, decisions related to the capture of the lion will be informed by the situation at the moment of capture.
SANParks wishes to reiterate that the organization is considering a number of measures to deal with the lion once it is captured in line with the Norms and Standards for the Management of Damage-Causing Animals. Unfortunately due to the history of this lion it is now considered a damage causing animal.
The following are among the options being considered by SANParks:
- Bringing the lion back to the park and looking at improving on fencing and other preventative measures
- Translocate the lion to another national park
- Donate the lion to another state owned conservation entity
- Donate the lion to a private conservation entity
- Euthanize the lion if the damage caused is massive and may include danger to people and/or loss of human life, and massive loss of assets. Specifically the loss of human life poses an even greater danger as the animal may lose fear for humans and see them as easy prey.
