After wandering away from his home, the boy used wildlife knowledge to survive, digging holes along a riverbank to find drinking water and eating wild

Boy, 7, found alive five days after going missing in 'lion-infested' Zimbabwe game park

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2025-01-05 12:30:02

After wandering away from his home, the boy used wildlife knowledge to survive, digging holes along a riverbank to find drinking water and eating wild fruits.

A young boy has been found alive five days after going missing in a "lion-infested" game park in Zimbabwe, officials have said.

Tinotenda Pudu, seven, went missing from his home in a rural community on 27 December and "unknowingly headed into the perilous Matusadona game park," a Zimbabwean MP stated.

A search operation was launched and footprints were discovered in a valley on 30 December - with the boy miraculously being found a day later.

He survived his ordeal by eating wild fruits and sleeping on a rocky perch "amidst roaring lions [and] passing elephants" in the "unforgiving wild", Mutsa Murombedzi MP said.

Labelling Tinotenda's survival "a true miracle", the MP wrote in a post on X: "We are overwhelmed with gratitude to the brave park rangers, the tireless Nyaminyami community who beat night drums each day to get the boy hear sound & get the direction back home & everyone who joined the search.