Here we go again – Yet another lion on the loose in Gauteng

Yet another lion is on the loose in Gauteng.

It is understood the lioness was spotted along the R511 near the Hennops Hiking Trail.

Speaking to The Citizen, Arthur Crewe of the Strategic Response Unit (SRU) said the beast was spotted at 2am on Wednesday morning.

Tracking

“The lion was spotted by a security officer in the area and managed to snap a picture as it was entering in the bushes. We as the SRU went out to try and search and located that lion, of which we got another confirmation that it was a lion.”

Crewe said they manage to track the lion after another sighting.

“Our members are there now trying to locate the lion with the use of drones and ground crew. We also have a vet on standby and are also busy with the logistics once we dart and catch the lion, because we want to get it back as safe as possible.”

Not reported

Crewe said it’s unclear who the lioness belongs to and how old she is.

“We have absolutely no idea. It hasn’t been reported and nobody has taken responsibility, so we have no idea where it’s from.”

Crew also confirmed there have been no attacks reported as yet.

ALSO READ: Lion on the loose in North West found and shot by farmer

No injuries

“There’s been no injuries reported. People did ask me if they could be in danger, we don’t feel anybody is in danger just yet,”

“Should that change and if we are unable to locate her again, we will just update the necessary people as we do have a lot of people looking for her now,” Crewe said.

Big cat escapes

A number of wild cats have escaped from captivity in the past few months, including a tiger in Edenvale and another tiger, Sheba, which was shot dead in Walkerville.

Last month, a lion that escaped while being transported in the North West was shot and killed.

The lion was found in the Piet Plessis area of the Dr Ruth Mompati District.

The lioness escaped from its container while being transported on the back of a Ford Ranger bakkie. It was in transit from Leeubosch to Tlakgameng.

ALSO READ: Search for Sheba the tiger comes to an end, big cat euthanised