The SA National Parks on Wednesday said it still had no idea how a pride of lions escaped from the Kruger National Park in Mananga‚ Mpumalanga‚ earlier this week.

“There is a high possibility that they might have got out through a gap in the fence but I cannot verify this‚” said spokesperson Reynold Thakuli.

Five lions were discovered to have escaped from the park on Monday.

Four were darted‚ tranquilised‚ recaptured and put back in the park on Tuesday.

The fifth however‚ was still nowhere to be found.

Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA)‚ which is responsible for any animal once it leaves the park area‚ said it had no leads on the missing predator.

A search which started early on Wednesday morning had by the afternoon yielded no results.

“We will continue searching and we urge community member to alert us if they spot it or have any information on where it could be‚” said MTPA spokesperson Kholofelo Nkabinde.

While the four lions were found in some sugar cane fields in the Mananga area on Tuesday‚ it was possible that the fifth lion could have moved even further away from the area. It was also possible for the animal to have made its way back into the park.

But without any clarity on where the security breach occurred to begin with‚ it was not immediately possible to verify this.

On Tuesday morning‚ Nkabinde said some cattle had been attacked by the lions in the area.

Since then‚ no other carcasses had been found in the area.