Staff Reporter.
The lioness that escaped on Wednesday in the North West as it was being transported from one game farm to another has been shot dead.
According to Jerry Matebesi, the spokesperson for the Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism, the lioness was discovered by a farmer in the Piet Plessis area within the Dr Ruth Mompati District.
Due to the fact that the lioness was roaming around within a residential area, the farm owner took a decision to shoot the lioness. He concluded that the department is grateful that no one was harmed during the time the lioness was missing.
The lioness went missing in the area of Stella and Tlhakgameng. At the time of the search, Matebesi explained that the owner of the lioness was transporting two lions from one game reserve to another. It’s understood that the lioness escaped during the transportation.
“The owner only discovered when he was checking on the lions at around Setlagole,” he added. A helicopter was also made available in an attempt to capture the escaped lioness.
Meanwhile, Riaan Roux from the province has been searching for eight hippos that went missing on a game reserve in the province. He said the hippos went missing after the flooding of the Vaal River on Monday, 20 February 2023. He is of the view that it will be hard to locate these wild animals as they spend most of their time underwater or with only their eyes, ears and nostrils above the water and are barely visible.