A boy has been rescued after surviving five days in a zoo full of lions and elephants in Zimbabwe, a lawmaker from the East African country announced this week.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Mutsa Mlombezi, a member of Zimbabwe’s parliament, said that Tinotenda Pudu wandered into the Matusadna Zoological Park and ended up hearing “the roar of a lion, a passing elephant… and just the relentless wild… Inside, he ended up sleeping on a rocky perch.” ” before he was eventually discovered by rangers.
CBS News’ partner network BBC News confirmed the incident was confirmed by the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Service, which said Pudu was only 7 years old. Park officials said the boy had wandered about 30 miles from where he lived, the BBC reported.
Mrombezi said the pudu survived thanks to its knowledge of the wild and its survival skills, eating fruit and digging in dry riverbeds for water.
She said people in the local Nyaminyami community launched their own search, beating drums every day in the hope that Pudu would return home, but eventually found “fresh small human footprints.” However, it was a ranger who managed to track him down.
Matusadona Zoological Park is approximately 570 square miles and is home to elephants, hippos, and lions, all of which can pose a threat to humans. According to the BBC, there are currently about 40 lions in the wild.
Mrombezi praised the tireless efforts of rangers and the local community to find Pudu, calling his safe return “a testament to unity, hope, prayer and the strength to never give up.”
