An animal carcass is being used to lure in a male lion on the loose near Dundee in northern KwaZulu-Natal. 

KZN Ezemvelo spokesperson Musa Mntambo said they had acquired the services of a professional hunter to help track down the predator and set up a trap on Thursday.

"By Thursday afternoon, it had not taken the bait but we remain hopeful. It comes from the bush and goes through to the farms in the area," Mntambo said. 

Mntambo said they suspect that the lion was one of two which escaped last year. 

"It might have been part of those lions which escaped last year. We ended up killing the one." 

He said they would use the best possible method to deal with the lion at the time of sighting. 

On Tuesday, SowetanLIVE's sister publication TimesLIVE reported that the male big cat is believed to have killed a cow on Sunday and tried to kill another one on Monday.

A camera placed near where the lion was last seen captured the large male during the night. 

In 2018, Sabelo Masondo narrowly escaped the jaws of a lion when he was attacked while walking along a dirt road near Emagcekeni village in Gluckstadt.