8-year-old Boy Survives 5 Days in Lion-infested Park
Tinotenda had wandered an astonishing 23 kilometres from his home into Matusadonha.
8-year-old Boy Survives 5 Days in Lion-infested Park
An 8-year-old boy, Tinotenda Pudu, survived five gruelling days alone in the lion-infested Matusadonha Game Park.
Tinotenda strayed from his home and found himself deep in Matusadonha, a park renowned for its high lion density. At the end of the five-day period, the 8-year-old had wandered an astonishing 23 kilometres from his home.
Mutsa Murombedzi, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mashonaland West, which covers the area in question, described the danger the boy faced.
“This area, especially near the Hogwe and Ume rivers, is a perilous place. One wrong turn can lead straight into the game park, and it’s not uncommon to hear roaring lions at night. That this young boy survived is nothing short of a miracle.”
He ate Nchoomva, a wild fruit known to keep himself nourished. For water, he used a traditional technique.
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He dug a small hole, a Mufuku in Shona, along the dry riverbank to access underground water. It’s a method taught in these drought-prone areas, and in this case, it saved his life.
Said the MP, “He survived on eating a wild fruit called Nchoomva in Tonga. It is Tsvanzva like or its actually the Tsvanzva.
8-year-old Boy Survives 5 Days in Lion-infested Park
“Then (for) water he would go on the dry river bank and use hands and a stick to dig a Mukàla in Tonga or what we call Mufuku in shona and drank water from there.
“He was very frail when he was rescued and had to be put on a drip. On water, what saved him is the technique learnt from a young age in dry and drought prone areas of drawing water from a dry river bank – digging a mufuku”
Murombedzi also recounted how the boy stayed safe from predators. At night, he climbed onto a rocky outcrop, away from the ground where lions and other animals roam freely.
On the fifth day, Tinotenda heard a vehicle in the distance.
“He tried to run toward the sound but couldn’t reach it,” the MP explained. “Later, he spotted tyre tracks near his rocky outcrop.
“Luckily, the park rangers when they were coming back they used the same path. They saw fresh little human footprints and scoured the area and found him. This was probably his last chance of being rescued after five days in the wilderness.”
When the rangers found him, he was weak and dehydrated. They immediately put him on a drip to stabilise him.
