Flock of seven lions killed after escape from national park in South Africa | Animals | Science & Planet

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Animals Employees of a South African nature park killed an entire pride of seven lions after the animals escaped from the park. The big cats had eaten more than ten sheep after that escape.

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Three of the seven lions escaped from Karoo National Park Monday morning. The rangers went after them after a report came in that sheep had been killed in a neighboring farm, a South African National Parks spokesman said.

The lions that broke loose were found and chased back to their habitat by the rangers. Still, the king of animals outwitted the park employees. On Tuesday the animals escaped for a second time, they slipped back to the carcasses at night. As the rangers could not get close enough to the lions on the ground due to the rugged area, a helicopter was deployed in the new search.

The second escape marked the end of the runaways, as well as the rest of the troop. The park says the group could be considered “harmful animals” and that the lions had to be killed because they “posed a serious danger to humans and livestock.” “In order to prevent conflict between predator and humans, management has decided to respond quickly and euthanize the entire troop,” the spokesperson told News24.

The seven animals were shot from the helicopter. It concerns two semi-adult lions, three semi-adult lionesses and two adult lionesses. Other lions live in the park.