A lion called “Sylvester” by locals has broken out of a national park in South Africa, officials said. Again.
On Sunday, Sylvester sneaked under a fence after heavy rains washed away the soil, Wanda Mkutshulwa, a spokeswoman for South African National Parks (SANParks), told CNN.
But the three-year-old creature is risking more than just being captured.
In a Facebook post on March 29, the park said that it would “put (the lion) down.”
The announcement wasn’t received well.
The hashtag #SaveSylvester has been trending in South Africa since Wednesday morning, and an online petition launched to save the lion has gathered more than 2,500 signatures.
Caught in a social media storm, SANParks, South African National Parks, which manages the Karoo National Park, took to Facebook to reassure people that “measures are in place to safely capture the lion.”
It also apologized “for the incorrect statement, which did not accurately reflect the organization’s position” over the lion’s fate, but reiterated that Sylvester is considered as a “damage causing animal,” which “can pose a very real danger to human life.”
“The statement went out prematurely,” Mkutshulwa admitted.
“We have a whole range of options that we are still considering,” she said, adding that euthanasia is “the last resort.”
Other options on the table include bringing the lion back to the park and reinforcing the fencing, or relocating or donating the animal to other national parks or conservation entities.
The decision will be made only when the animal is captured, Mkutshulwa said.
Sylvester has already traveled 20 kilometers (12 miles) and killed a cow, according to Agence France Presse.
In 2015, the animal also escaped under the fence where soil erosion had made a hole and was on the loose for over three weeks, despite a widespread search.
It wandered for 300 kilometers (186 miles) and killed 30 animals before searchers were able to shoot it with a tranquilizer dart.
But this time, he may not be so lucky.
After the 2015 escape from the Karoo National Park in the Western Cape province, it was fitted with a tracking collar, Mkutshulwa said, and that should make the search easier.
A 14-person squad with aerial support was deployed on Monday, but difficult terrain and windy conditions have hampered the search.
“The collar is still sending signals, so we have a general idea of where the lion is,” Mkutshulwa added.
According to AFP, the park has about a dozen lions, which were introduced in 2010 after an absence of about 170 years. Hunters exterminated wild lions in the area in the 19th century.