Man Eating Lions of Kruger National Park
February 11, 2009 by admin
On the Mozambique border with South Africa, real lions are still feasting on people today. In short, the animals have taken to eating those who are evading the law. In Kruger National Park South Africa illegal immigrants from mozambique seeking work in Johannesburg have been taking a short cut through the park. Lying in wait for them have been Kruger national park lions.
Nobody knows the actual number of people that have been eaten, but the problem was first noticed in 1980 and has steadily become worse. At first only one or two people were known to have been eaten by lions each year such as a mother and her son killed close to Pafuri Camp a few days after Christmas 1996.
In 1997 11 cases came to light; in one of these incidents a man and a woman were killed and eaten by lions about 19 miles (30km) from Parfuri in July of that year.
The body remains of the two victims according to rangers would not even have half-filled a plastic shopping bag. In August of the same year a man was killed at the Punda Maria turn-off south of Parfuri, while ten of his companions escaped by climbing trees.
Today game rangers and park authorities estimate that the number of people killed by lions here is higher than actually officially reported.
Park rangers have reported finding luggage and personal belongings including clothes but no bodies.
What lions leave, hyenas, vultures, jackals and other scavengers clean up. Until nothing is left.
The problem is that the entire eastern boundary of the park runs along the border with Mozambique, and an estimated 15,000 people have been caught trying to make the trek through the bush.
Lions are basically lazy animals, and once an individual kills and eats a person, it seems to prefer what amounts to convenience food that is east to catch.
The second problem for the park has been that, unlike tourists who must remain in the vehicles except in the secure parts of designated rest areas, park patrols are often out on foot.
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Lions typically don’t eat humans, however, if they are on the hunt and a human is easy prey, they will strike. And once they become accustomed to it, they are much more likely to do it again.
January 6th, 2010 at 12:57 am
Lions are not typically man eaters.However if you provoke them they will backfire on you.I have seen lions in one of the national parks in India(in the state of Gujarat) and their behaviour towards us was not dangerous.They were not bothered at all until one of our accompany did the mistake of playing pranks with them.He was shouting so that lions could come closer and he could take pictures.And soon his try became a reality when one of big huge lion came running towards our safari bus and snubbed it very hard.But thank God nothing happens except there were nail prints on the bus where the lion attacked.