Celani Sikhakhane
The six lions that were put down on Friday were, according to Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, behaving like monsters towards the community.
The lions have already killed six cows and the number might rise as communities in Nqulwane and Okhukho in Ulundi are still counting the stock.
Ezemvelo spokesperson Musa Mntambo said the lions were no longer behaving normally towards communities.
“Usually when the lions come into contact with community members they run away but this time they were behaving differently. They chose to walk towards them which was a serious threat to human beings,” said Mntambo.
The six lions escaped from Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park in the north of KwaZulu-Natal three weeks ago.
Mntambo said they decided to put down the lions following several community protests where a group of community members cut the fence and staged a sit-in inside the park.
He said the protesters threatened not only to sit inside Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park but also to hunt and kill any lions they saw.
The group met with MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environment Affairs Ravi Pillay on Tuesday, and it was resolved that the lions would be killed if they escaped again.
The community of OKhukho have been terrorised by wild animals from game reserves for years.
Community members were told that if any animal harassed the community, no compensation would be given – until this time when the lion meat was given to the community to use as food.
Ezemvelo stated that those animals were already there before the game reserves were built.
