Kariba residents are urged to be alert as there have been reports of lions having been seen in various areas namely Heights and Chawara near Methodist Church.
“Lions and other animals are part of tourism attraction, that makes Kariba as good as it is seen today”, says Wayne Chihota who so happens to be a native resident and Guide by profession who stresses that there is an outbreak of marauding lions.
Lions are predators and they are only sociable when they are in their groupknown as “the pride”. They give birth after three months gestation period. For reproduction, a male and female will go for honeymoon for about three days strictly business , no food and water. They mate every twenty minutes for the first day then reduces pace after. In the wild their life expectancy is eighteen years.
Researchers view Lions as opportunistic hunters , they take advantage of the situation. Even if they had just killed if they see anything they go for it. Their prey is usually determined by the size of the pride, the bigger it is ,the bigger animal they want. When hunting they stalk their prey then pounce on it and kill by strangulation. They are patient hunters.
Once a lion develops taste for humans, they will definitely start going for them. Female lions are more aggressive especially when they have babies. Young lions do not usually go for something taller than them. Only young ones , the adult lions do not care about anything.
Lions do not usually move in broad daylight when the temperatures are high. They are nocturnal animals (active at night). People are advised to not to walk in secluded areas or dark areas alone , rather people should walk in groups because most lions do not like attacking a group.
If one so happens to have an encounter with a lion, one is advised to maintain eye contact whilst moving backwards , because lions are very much shy, they will move away for a few minutes giving one an opportunity to run away or find a tree to climb.
Kariba residents should therefore be careful of the environment they live in because they so happen to be sharing it with wild animals. Not forgetting circumstances which befell a Mahombekombe woman about two years ago who was attacked by a lioness after “sharing a special moment ” with her boyfriend at a secluded spot in the bushes near the Mahombekombe Hall. There were reports of a human head and an arm being found near The Big 2 Nightclub, where efforts to identify the deceased took some time.
The Zimbabwe Management of National Parks Authority continues to warn people against walking at night and using footpaths through the bush as shortcuts.
