South African National Parks (SANParks) and Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) confirmed that six lions had been translocated from Riverside farm (Malelane area) to the far northern part of the Kruger National Park, an area that currently has few resident lions.
The lions were vagrant on a farm near Malelane for more than a week posing a risk to the farm workers. MTPA, as the responsible and accountable authority to deal with animals outside of protected areas which pose danger to humans, requested KNP to assist with veterinary support for darting and relocation back to the park to an area where they will not be harassed by resident lions.
These animals could not be moved back to the same area of the park as they had been chased away by new male lion coalitions and would have been killed or escaped out of the park again posing a risk to neighboring communities.
A decision was taken by both MTPA and SANParks to relocate them to the Northern areas of the KNP where there currently are few resident lions to give them an opportunity to thrive.
The operation was conducted on the 13 August 2024 where six of the lions were successfully darted, collared for monitoring, and transported safely to the North of KNP. They are currently being monitored and seem to have settled well in the new area.
