Sylvester the Lion returns to South Africa park

Park manager Nico van der Walt told Johannesburg Times reporter Shaun Smillie about plans for Sylvester. that specialists where to put the lion:

“Specialists will decide what the best option is for the lion,” said Nico van der Walt, manager of the Karoo National Park.

“There is a possibility that he might be relocated,” he said.

On Monday lion trackers in a helicopter spotted Sylvester after a 24 day tsearch high on the Nuweveld mountains.

“By this time he had become very tired, he hadn’t eaten in four days and on Saturday the dogs had chased him into the mountains,” Van der Walt said.

“The helicopter got within 30m of the lion and the vet was able to dart him,” Van der Walt said.

There were fears that the tranquilised creature might roll off a cliff edge, but a bush was there to prevent that from happening.

Then came the difficult part. As Sylvester was some way from the rescue vehicles, a decision was made to airlift the cat in a sling beneath the chopper. The aircraft had to come so close to the mountain that its rotor blades spun just two metres from the cliff’s face.

After the three-week hunt, park manager Van der Walt has no hard feelings for the three week search it took to locate Syvlester.

“Over that time I developed a respect for him, for what he had gone through,” he said.

Sylvester the lion might get a new home.