A young boy was rescued after surviving five days in a game park full of lions and elephants in Zimbabwe, a lawmaker in the east African country said this week.
The BBC cited the parks authority as saying the young boy had wandered about 30 miles from where he lives.
Murombedzi said Pudu survived thanks to his knowledge of the wild and survival skills, eating fruit and digging down into dry riverbeds to find water.
Matusadona Game Park covers about 570 square miles and is home to elephants, hippos and lions, all of which can present a threat to humans.
According to the BBC, it is currently home to about 40 lions.
A Zimbabwean lawmaker announced this week that a young boy had been saved after surviving five days in a lion and elephant-infested game park in the east African nation.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Zimbabwean parliamentarian Mutsa Murombedzi claimed that Tinotenda Pudu had wandered into the Matusadona Game Park and was “sleeping on a rocky perch, amidst roaring lions, passing elephants… and just the unforgiving wild” before rangers eventually located him.
Pudu was only 7 years old, according to Zimbabwe’s national Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, which confirmed the incident, according to CBS News partner network BBC News. According to the parks authority quoted by the BBC, the young child had wandered around thirty miles from his home.
Pudu’s survival skills and wild knowledge, including eating fruit and digging into dry riverbeds to find water, are what allowed him to survive, according to Murombedzi.
In an attempt to help Pudu find his way home, she said, the local Nyaminyami community started their own search and beat drums every day. However, rangers were ultimately able to locate him after spotting “fresh little human footprints.”.
There are lions, hippos, and elephants in the roughly 570 square mile Matusadona Game Park, all of which can be dangerous to people. Approximately 40 lions call it home at the moment, according to the BBC.
“A testament to the power of unity, hope, prayer, and never giving up,” Murombedzi said of Pudu’s safe return, praising the rangers and the local community for their unwavering efforts to find him. “.”.
