Pleas to Save Sylvester the Lion After Escaping Park Twice

BEAUFORT WEST – A wily lion named Sylvester has escaped Karoo National Park by crawling under an electric fence – his second escape in less than a year – and is said to be roaming a mountainous area nearby, with a growing public outcry for parks authorities not to shoot him.

SANParks was quoted in the media on Tuesday saying that Sylvester, because he was a repeat escaper, would be euthanised. But it released a revised statement on Wednesday saying the options included improving fencing at the park, translocating him to another public or private park, or euthanising him if the damage he had caused was so great and he posed a threat to human life.

“We 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 said in a statement.

At present a 14-member team is looking for the lion on the lam in the Beaufort West area.

Online campaigners change.org have started a “Save Sylvester” protest that has already been signed by over 2,100 people, calling for the wild cat to not be euthanised. Avaaz.org has also started a campaign. Numerous wildlife sanctuaries have reportedly expressed an interest in taking on the lion, including conservationist John Varty.

The three-year-old Sylvester escaped for three weeks last year, apparently after climbing through a hole in a fence, costing R800 000.00. He killed 28 sheep, a Nguni cow and a kudu, and SANParks said on Wednesday that, according to reports, a cow on a privately-owned farm has already been killed this time. Sylvester apparently wandered 300 kilometres while he was AWOL last time before being caught napping under a tree.