Uploaded photos of a snared lion on Facebook leads to its rescue.
King of the Jungle saved by Facebook at Kruger National Park
A lion in a snare was saved at Kruger National Park in South Africa when tourists on safari uploaded the photos of the big cat on Facebook and alerted the park authorities of its agonizing predicament.
Images of the injured male were posted on Facebook groups associated to the national park, which is a popular tourist destination.
The tourists spotted the young male lion clearly asking for help, after being caught in a trap set by poachers cutting into its neck. The painful injuries were displayed on social media including Facebook and Twitter.
Facebook appeal saves South Africa lion https://t.co/GnnyDDXrVK #BBCAfricaLive pic.twitter.com/M6ANJfoiEg— BBC Africa (@BBCAfrica) January 6, 2016
Park rangers and vets found the lion and closed the road to treat it. Authorities at the park later took the news to Twitter to share that Percy (the lion) had been located.
Some users however criticised the park for not doing enough to protect the animals while others complain the park officials had not reacted quickly enough to save the lion.
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));Dear Valued Stakeholders The Snared Lion is relieved of the Snare, the wound has been treated. This afternoon, 05...Posted by Kruger National Park Safaris on Tuesday, January 5, 2016
The tourists were driving on Sunday around the park when the lion stumbled on the road.
A happy ending pic.twitter.com/Ixc6hbYDkg— Kruger National Park (@SANParksKNP) January 5, 2016
Our Lion is finding his feet again. pic.twitter.com/0PQZWKYcLk— Kruger National Park (@SANParksKNP) January 5, 2016