Lions kill three cows, calf
13 January, 2009

HUKUNTSI - Two lions recently caused panic and dismay among Lokgwabe residents when they killed three cows and a calf in just a day.

One of the cattle owners, Mr Lesedi Modukanele said in an interview that he lost a total of eight cattle due to the predators over the years. Mr Modukanele said government should should ensure that predators like lions do not come into contact with cattle.

Mr Modukanele is entitled to P700 compensation for his recently killed cow.

The owners of the other cattle had still not been identified.

A Department of Wildlife and National Parks official, Mrs Keolopile Manongi said their department's goal was to protect wild animals and not necessarily to kill them.

She said a study that was recently carried out indicated that most of the lions that were culled after their uncontrollable behaviour were female and this adversely impacted on their growth. Mrs Manongi said following the recent cattle loss they intended to capture the offending animals with a view to transferring to another area. She said the two lions were a male and female and could be probably be mating.

She also advised farmers to look after their livestock since most of the attacks occured at night.

Keeping domestic animals inside their kraals at night would help reduce these unhappy incidents, she said.

"We are calling on the farmers to control their animals", Mrs Manongi said.

BOPA