ADDO’S SYLVESTER AND COMPANY FINALLY FREE

There’s a big difference between 200 and 15 000 hectares, and it would appear as if the country’s most talked about lion, Sylvester, was all too aware of this.  It took him only minutes to move out of the enclosure he’s been in since November, into the larger Kuzuko contractual area of the Park, when the fence was cut over the weekend.

The two lionesses were released on Friday afternoon when a SANParks vet darted them and fitted one with a tracking collar.  As they are never far apart, one collar will provide the location of both at any given time.  “On their first night out they caught a kudu and the very next morning a red hartebeest, confirmation that they can successfully fend for themselves in the wild,” said Addo Elephant National Park Conservation Manager, John Adendorff.   

Sylvester and the other male were released on Saturday afternoon. A carcass was placed about 50m from a corner in the fence, the fence was cut and Sylvester was out first.  He headed straight to the carcass and started feeding, followed shortly thereafter by the younger male.  “Sylvester is already showing signs of being the pride leader, on Sunday night chasing the females off their kill,” continued Adendorff.

Sylvester, too, has proven that he hasn’t forgotten how to hunt, having caught an adult black wildebeest on Monday morning.

“Now that it appears he finally has a place where he belongs, without threat, and the fact that he has bonded so closely with the younger male, we are confident that Sylvester will have no need to ever stray again.  His satellite tracking collar location is monitored regularly and easily provides us with an accurate assessment of where the two are,” Adendorff said.