Young boy survives five days in lion-inhabited game park

A young  man has been found alive after surviving five days in a game  reserve inhabited by lions and elephants in northern Zimbabwe, a member of  parliament has said.
The ordeal began when Tinotenda Pudu wandered at least  23km (14 miles) from  his home  in the  "dangerous" Matusadona  game reserve, Mashonaland West MP Mutsa Murombedzi  told X.
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He spent five days  "sleeping on a rocky  outcrop, surrounded by roaring lions,  encountering elephants, eating wild  fruit," he said.
The Matusadona game  reserve is home to about 40 lions. At one point, it had one of the highest lion population densities in Africa, according to African  Parks. The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority confirmed the incident to the  BBC, but said the boy was  seven years old, not eight as the MP had  said, and  had walked 49 km (30 miles) from  home.
Muombedzi said the boy used his knowledge of  nature and survival skills to stay  alive.
Tinotenda survived his ordeal by eating wild fruit. He also dug small wells  in dry riverbeds with a stick to  collect drinking water - a skill  learned in the drought-prone  region.
Local community members in Nyaminyami  have been holding a search party and  beating drums  every day  in an attempt to guide him  home. But in the end, it was  the rangers who managed to find  him.
On his fifth day in the  wilderness, Tinotenda heard a  park ranger's car and ran  towards it, narrowly missing it, the MP  said.
Fortunately, the rangers returned,  saw "small fresh human  tracks" and searched the area until they found  him.
"It was probably his last chance  to be rescued after  five days in the  wild," the  MP said.
The park  covers more than 1,470  km² (570 sq  mi) and is home to zebras, elephants, hippos,  lions and  antelopes. On social media,  netizens praised the young  man's resilience.
"This is beyond human comprehension,"  wrote one person on  X.
Another user wrote:  "He will have a  terrible story to tell when he  goes back to  school." »
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