Campaign against killing escaped lion

Image copyright

AFP

Image caption

South Africa has a large lion population

Animal rights campaigners are urging a South African game reserve to reverse its decision to put down a lion who escaped on Sunday.

The lion, called Sylvester, crawled under an electric fence after heavy rains dislodged earth, according to a Karoo National Park spokeswoman.

The park authorities intend to use a helicopter to find the lion.

He was fitted with a tracking collar after he was on the loose for three weeks last year.

More on this and other African news stories

Last June, Sylvester went on a sheep-killing spree, wandering 300km (180 miles) before he was found taking a nap by rangers and airlifted from the Nuweveld Mountains in Western Cape.

On his current escape, he has already travelled at least 20km (12 miles) and killed a cow, according to AFP news agency.

On Tuesday night South Africa National Parks tweeted that it is a difficult decision to put down the lion once they find him.

Image copyright

Twitter

The hashtag #SaveSylvester has been trending in South Africa since Wednesday morning as campaigners urge the parks to reverse their decision.

Image copyright

Twitter

Image copyright

Twitter

All copyrights for this article are reserved to BBC News

Campaign against killing escaped lion
http://latiendadejm.com/blog/campaign-against-killing-escaped-lion/

BBC News, noticias | #BBCNews #Noticias | La tienda de JM