Lion on the loose in Beaufort West

Pretoria - A search is under way in Beaufort West for a lion that escaped from the Karoo National Park, the South African National Parks (SANParks) said on Monday.

SANParks spokesperson Reynold Thakuli said a search team had been deployed to track the cat.

“An electronic collar indicated that the lion was outside the national park,” said Thakuli.

He said it was the same one that had escaped in 2015.

Last year, the lion which was said to be 3-years-old escaped through a hole that formed under the fence after a heavy flow of water.

The hole was underneath the fence on the western side of the park, next to Fraserburg Road, and the suspicion was that the lion made its way through a stormwater pipe to one of the farms in the area.