A pride of stray lions from the Kruger National Park has descended on Tshitulipasi and Tshikwalakwala villages, outside Beit Bridge town, where they are reportedly terrorising villagers and killing their livestock.

Villagers who spoke to Mirror last week said they continued to lose cattle and donkeys to the marauding lions. “I have already lost four head of cattle and a donkey and we will continue to lose more livestock if the problem is not addressed promptly,” said Mr Lutendo Chauke, a villager from Chikwalakwala.

Another villager from Chitulipasi, Mr David Ndou, said: “We are appealing to the relevant authorities to address the situation because we are now living in fear. Our children travel long distances to school and, in most cases, they use bushy pathways, so our fear is that they might end up being attacked by the lions if the situation continues,” he added.

The ward councilor for the area, Cllr Enock Ndou, confirmed the development. “I can confirm that we are getting more and more lions straying from the South African side of the border and going into villages such as Chikwalakwala and Chitulipasi where they are killing villagers’ livestock. In fact, we have since notified a local safari operator who normally assists us in that regard. I will soon approach the local Parks and Wildlife Management Authority to liaise with their South African counterparts, so that they can address the problem faced by villagers,” he said.

The two villages are situated at the confluence of the Limpopo and Bubi rivers along the borders that divide South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.