Zimbabwe
Miraculous: Boy, 7, survives for several days in “lion-infested” African national park
After getting lost and ending up miles from home, Tinotenda Pudu survived for just under a week in a Zimbabwean game reserve.
In a story that defies belief, a seven-year-old boy last month survived on his own for nearly a week in a Zimbabwe game park filled with lions, elephants and hippopotamus.
What happened?
Tinotenda Pudu’s harrowing ordeal occurred when he became separated from his family in the rural Nyaminyami community, in northern Zimbabwe. Having lost his bearings, he wandered into the nearby Matusadona National Park, and ended up several miles from home.
The Matusadona National Park is considered a highly dangerous environment due to the animals that live inside it. Currently, records show that around 40 lions inhabit the park, which has previously boasted one of the most concentrated populations of lions in the whole of Africa.
Members of the Nyaminyami community quickly formed a search party. What’s more, park rangers covered the length and breadth of the reserve in a bid to find Pudu, but for several days there was no trace of the youngster. He was finally located five days after disappearing.
How did Tinotenda Pudu survive?
Mutsa Murombedzi, a member of the Zimbabwean parliament, has offered detailed updates on the case on social media. On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Murombedzi explained that Pudu was able to stay alive thanks to his knowledge of how to survive in the wild. He chiefly ate wild fruits, and found drinking water by digging small wells in dry areas close to a river.
Murombedzi added that Pudu was taken to hospital and would be evaluated not only physically, but also from a mental-health point of view, to ensure he does not suffer long-lasting trauma as a result of the experience.
How was Tinotenda Pudu finally found?
The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority told the BBC that Pudu was found after he heard the sound of the park ranger’s vehicle, and ran towards it. While he did not initially succeed in making contract with the ranger, searchers were able to use the fresh footprints he left to zero in on his whereabouts.
Describing Pudu’s safe return from the game reserve as a “true miracle”, Murombedzi wrote on X: “We are overwhelmed with gratitude to the brave park rangers, the tireless Nyaminyami community who beat night drums each day to get the boy hear sound & get the direction back home & everyone who joined the search.”
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