Government refutes lion rumours

The Department of National Parks and Wildlife has dismissed rumours circulating on social media that there is a lion wandering the streets of Lilongwe.

Director of National Parks and Wildlife Brighton Kumchedwa said officers from the department went to Lilongwe Sanctuary to verify footprints and have since established that the footpaths are that of a dog not a lion as earlier speculated.

“The truth of the matter is that when we did our own investigation, some two days ago some hybrid dogs fled from one of the houses in Area 9 and they went as far as the Sanctuary.

“So possibly guy who is alleging that he saw a lion might have seen one of the dogs because when we went for footprint it has been confirmed by my team that the footprints belong to the dog not a lion,” said Kumchedwa.

He added that there are no lions in Lilongwe Sanctuary as those that were at the Sanctuary died way back.

“I must say that it’s not correct for the reason that there are no lions being kept at the Sanctuary so we wouldn’t expect any lion to run out of the Sanctuary yet there isn’t a single lion at the moment as we speak,” said Kumchedwa.

According to Kumchedwa, the owner of the dogs has since claimed them back and that there are no longer in the Sanctuary.