Kruger warns of 'tyre-biting' lions

Management at the Kruger National Park (KNP) has received reports of a pride of lions, north of Satara, who are acting strangely and biting vehicle tyres. In a press release, the park management encouraged all ‘visitors who come across lions displaying such behaviour’ to make sure their windows remain closed. Those on open safari vehicles have been advised to remain silent and keep all limbs within the framework of the vehicle.

Appealing to the public, the KNP Managing Executive, Glenn Phillips said, “We have received information from various tourists who have witnessed this behaviour. We would like to appeal to the open safari vehicle operators specifically to be on the look-out as the behaviour of the pride is of concern and might pose danger to occupants.”

All members of this pride will be marked for identification purposes by Veterinary Wildlife Services and one of the lions will be collared, so that the park can monitor their movements.

They also encouraged ‘guests who might have taken photos/video or have feedback on the pride’ to ‘share or post these on our social media platforms’ and also ask that lions are photographed in a way to capture their individual ear notches or markings.

The park’s management is hoping that this will help them discover whether it is only a single member of the pride acting strangely or whether the whole pride has developed this behaviour.

“We also request visitors not to get too close to any animals for footage at a sighting, or refrain from placing any items on the vehicle exterior or tyres which might attract and encourage animals to approach the vehicle,” concluded Phillips.

Visitors can also report incidents to the Emergency Call Centres on 013 735 4064 / 013 735 0197 or 076 801 9679.

The video below was uploaded to YouTube in October 2017 and shows a lion in the Kruger biting a tyre that then exploded, giving the beast a large fright.