7-Year-Old Boy Lost for a Week in Wildlife Park…

7-Year-Old Boy Lost for a Week in Wildlife Park Teeming with Lions Miraculously Found Alive: 'Beyond Human Comprehension'

Tinotenda Pudu, 7, wandered away and became lost in a wildlife park teeming with lions in Zimbabwe, but was miraculously found alive by park rangers after nearly a week. (Credit: Mutsa Murombedzi/X)

A 7-year-old boy lost for nearly a week in a wildlife park teeming with lions in Zimbabwe was miraculously found alive, according to a government official.

Mutsa Murombedzi, a member of the country's parliament, described the news as "a true miracle" in a post to X Wednesday.

💫 A boy missing & found in Matusadonha game park

A true miracle in remote Kasvisva community, Nyaminyami in rural Kariba, a community where one wrong turn could easily lead into a game park. 8-year-old Tinotenda Pudu wandered away, lost direction & unknowingly headed into the… pic.twitter.com/z19BLffTZW
— Mutsa Murombedzi MP🇿🇼 (@mutsamu) January 1, 2025

"Tinotenda Pudu wandered away, lost direction & unknowingly headed into the perilous Matusadonha game park. After 5 long, harrowing days in the jungle near Hogwe River, which feeds into Ume river, the boy has been found alive by the incredible rangers from Matusadona Africa Parks," Murombedzi said on X.

"His ordeal, wandering 23km from home, sleeping on a rocky perch, amidst roaring lions, passing elephants, eating wild fruits and just the unforgiving wild [is] too much for an [8-year-old]," she continued.

And so what happened was he then heard a park rangers vehicle and tried to run towards the noise but was late only to see vehicle markings in the off the beaten path in the game park. Then he went back to the rocky outcrop but luckily the park rangers when they were coming back…
— Mutsa Murombedzi MP🇿🇼 (@mutsamu) January 1, 2025

The MP said that the local community "beat night drums each day" in hopes that the boy would hear them and find his way home, however it was the sound of a park ranger vehicle that actually drew the boy out.

Murombedzi said that while the boy missed the vehicle, the rangers returned to find "fresh little human footprints" and followed them until they found him.

The incident was confirmed by the Zimbabwe Parks & Wildlife Management Authority, however the agency told the BBC that the boy was actually 7 years old, not 8 like the MP said in her post.

Matusadona National Park, where the boy was lost, spans 1,470 square kilometers and is home to about 40 lions. The park is also home to elephants, rhinos, buffalo, leopards and hippos, according to African Parks.

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