Eland kill provides a fresh clue about escaped lion's whereabouts

A search party of 20 set off at first light on Wednesday looking for a lion with a full belly on the outskirts of the Karoo National Park.

Wednesday marked the fifth day since the lion escaped from the park outside Beaufort West in the Western Cape.

Karoo National Park manager Nico van der Walt said the search party, consisting of 14 rangers and about six volunteers from neighbouring farms, had breathed a sigh of relief late on Tuesday after coming across a female eland kill on a farm adjacent to the park.

Most of the carcass had been consumed, boosting the chances of finding the lion. Van der Walt explained: “A lion with a full belly is likely to sleep for some time. This will work to our advantage [as] we can gain time on the lion.”

The team followed the spoor from the kill until sunset on Tuesday, covering an area nearly 12km from the park.

The lion was initially spotted outside the park on Friday. Its spoor was then picked up after an extensive search on two farms on Monday.