Corona Virus: Lions Relaxing on Road During Lockdown in South Africa

Sooner or later the animals will realize that humans have disappeared, and lions have begun to take advantage of them in South Africa's Kruger National Park.

Park Ranger Richard Souray was patrolling Wednesday when he saw a group of lions sleeping on a road that is usually full of tourists.

Like many other wildlife parks, Kroger has been closed since March 25 due to a lockdown in the wake of the Corona virus outbreak.

Earlier, the Rangers used to see big cats on the streets, usually at night.

How were these photos taken?

Despite the lockdown, Richard Sowery continues to maintain the park. On Wednesday afternoon, he saw the scene on the road and took pictures with his mobile phone.

Lions apparently didn't matter, and most of them were probably sleeping.

He said: 'People sitting in tigers are accustomed to seeing. All animals are scared to look at people on the go, so if I walked, they would not let me come so close. '

'The largest female lion in this group is 14 years of age, which is very high for a female lion, so they are accustomed to seeing vehicles.'

Generally Richard Souray has seen lions sleeping on park roads only on winter nights when the tarpaulin involved in the construction of the roads maintains heat.

However, Rangers do not want the tigers to start thinking that roads are a safe haven for them.

How is Lockdown Park Affecting?

In these quiet times, lions as well as wild dogs have been spotted on the golf course in the park, but Richard Sauer said the behavior of the animals from the lockdown has not yet had a major impact.

He says: 'Kroger is a very wild place, it has been wild and will always be wild.'

They are happy to share these photos with people who cannot come to the park because of the Corona virus epidemic. '

He says: 'This is a difficult time for everyone and my goal was to make people happy.'

So far 34 deaths have been recorded from corona virus in South Africa and the number of infected patients is about 2506. Lockdown has been extended here for two weeks on Wednesday.

Media Officer Isaac Phala says, 'Everyone knows the importance of lockdown and the rangers are doing their normal work there. Infrastructure maintenance requires a lot of work, so when the park opens, you don't have to work from scratch again. '

He added: "As far as lions are concerned, they are usually in the bushes and now they are enjoying freedom in the park without us."

But why would a tiger prefer a hard road instead of a soft grass?

Isaac Phala says: 'Probably because it was raining on Tuesday night, the roads were drier than grass. Big cats and no water joints.