Zimbabwe – Game Rangers and a professional hunter on Tuesday shot and killed a stray lion that had terrorised the farming community of Triangle since January 15.

Faceofmalawi has established from Masvingo based publication Tell Zim that agro-business giant Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe (THZ) hired a professional hunter to assist its Game Rangers to hunt down the marauding lion.

Rangers Gun Down Stray Lion That Killed Four Cattle In Triangle: Sergeant Mavhuni with the dead lion (Photo credit Tell Zim)

It is believed that the lion was first spotted on the 15th of January at Triangle business centre and since then villagers and workers of Section 8 had been living in fear.

According to an internal memo issued by Tongaat Hulett dated January 15, 2020, the company advised its employees and members of the public to be on the lookout for a stray lion.

Employees and all members of the community are strongly advised to keep away from the hill and avoid unnecessary outdoor movement on foot within the Triangle Area until the animal has been accounted for, reads part of the memo.

THZ Game Rangers led by Sergeant Muvhuni then started to track down the lion which had killed four cows in the area.

With continual rains making it difficult for the rangers to track down the lion, THZ then hired a professional hunter to assist them.

After joining Sergeant Muvhuni’s team the professional hunter took less than 24 hours to track down the predator.

According to Tell Zim’s source, the hunter was forced to kill the lion fearing that he could lose it in the rains.

The lion was killed at around 1900hours at plot number 1801 of section 26. They feared to lose track of it due to rains so they decided to kill it before it could take any human life, said the source.