(LONDON) — A child who had been missing for five days was found alive this week in a vast game park inhabited by big cats and other wild animals in northern Zimbabwe, officials said.
The young boy was reported missing from his home in a rural village on Dec. 27, according to a statement from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks), which did not identify the child by name but said he was 7 years old. A joint search operation involving park rangers, police officers and members of the local community was immediately launched, but heavy rainfall hindered the effort, ZimParks said.
Human footprints were discovered in an area of the Matusadona National Park on Dec. 30 and the boy was successfully located during the early morning hours of Dec. 31, according to ZimParks.
“Remarkably, it is estimated that he walked through the harsh terrain of the lion infested Matusadona National Park for 49 kilometers (30 miles) from his village to the point where he was found,” ZimParks said. “During this period, he survived on wild fruits and would dig a small hole along the dry river bank to access underground water to drink, a technique that is well known in drought prone areas.”
The boy has since been reunited with his family. He was taken to a local clinic for preliminary examinations and later transferred to an area hospital for further medical evaluations, according to ZimParks.
Mutsa Murombedzi, a member of the Zimbabwean Parliament for Mashonaland West province, which encompasses the Matusadona National Park, wrote in a post on X that the boy, whom she said was 8 years old, “was very frail when he was rescued” and “had to be put on [an IV] drip.”
“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 added.
The lawmaker thanked everyone who helped find the child, including the “brave park rangers” and the “tireless” members of the local community who “beat night drums each day” hoping the boy would hear the sounds and head back in the direction of his home.
“This is a testament to the power of unity, hope, prayer and never giving up,” she wrote.
The Matusadona National Park, which covers an area of about 1,470 square kilometers (570 square miles), once “supported the highest density of lion in Africa, and was an incredible stronghold for elephant and black rhino,” according to the nonprofit African Parks.
“Yet, despite the challenges in the past,” African Parks writes on its website, “a healthy variety of mammal species still occurs within Matusadona, including lion, leopard, buffalo, zebra, elephant, hippo and an impressive variety of antelope species.”
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