The child, who was found 49km from his village, survived on wild fruit and water that he dug from a dry river bank.
A seven-year-old boy managed to survive for five days in a national park containing dozens of lions, after he wandered away from his home and got lost, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) has said.
The child went missing from the Marindi area in the north of the country last Friday, ZimParks said in a statement. Police, park rangers and the local community were all involved in the rescue efforts inside Matusadona National Park, it added.
The search was hampered by heavy rainfall, which “disturbed the child’s footprints,” ZimParks said.
However, footprints were discovered on Monday in the Sakata Valley area. This led to the boy being found early the next day.
ZimParks said he survived the ordeal by eating wild fruit and digging holes for water along a dry river bank — a technique common in drought-prone areas.
“Remarkably, it is estimated that he walked through the harsh terrain of the lion-infested Matusadona National Park for 49km from his village to the point where he was found,” ZimParks said.
The child was first taken to a medical clinic and then to hospital for medical examinations.
Mutsa Murombedzi, a politician who represents Mashonaland West, said it was a “true miracle” that the boy had survived the “unforgiving wild” of the national park.
In a post on X, Murombedzi wrote that the 7-year-old had taken to “sleeping on a rocky perch, amidst roaring lions, passing elephants”.
The local Nyaminyami community beat drums each night, hoping the lost child would hear the sound. However, their efforts were unsuccessful, Murombedzi wrote.
It was park rangers who located him, close to where they found “fresh little human footprints”, she added.
Matusadona, which became a national park in 1975, is thought to house around 40 lions. It once had the highest density of lions in Africa, before human pressure took its toll, according to the African Parks.
The park also contains animals including elephants, buffaloes, hippos and impala.
“We are overwhelmed with gratitude to the brave park rangers, the tireless Nyaminyami community … and everyone who joined the search,” Murombedzi said.
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