Young boy survives 5 nights lost in the ‘unforgiving wilderness’ of a theme park full of lions, hippos and elephants

A young boy who survived five days in a game park full of lions and elephants in Zimbabwe was rescued this week, a lawmaker in the East African country said.

Mutsa Murombedzi, a member of the Zimbabwean Parliament, said this on Wednesday post on social media Tinotenda Pudu wandered into the Matusadona Game Park and “slept on a rocky perch, among roaring lions, passing elephants… and just unforgiving wildlife.”

CBS News partner network BBC News said Zimbabwe’s National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority confirmed the incident and that Pudu was only 7 years old. The BBC reported, citing park officials, that the young man wandered about 30 miles from where he lived.

Murombedzi said the Pudu survived because of their wild knowledge and survival skills, digging dry riverbeds to eat fruit and find water.

He said members of the local Nyaminyami community began their own search, beating drums every day in the hope Pudu would return home, but it was the rangers who eventually spotted “fresh little human tracks” and managed to track him down.

Matusadona Game Park covers approximately 570 square miles and is home to elephants, hippos and lions, all of which can pose a threat to humans. According to the BBC, there are currently about 40 lions living here.

Murombedzi praised conservationists and the local community for their tireless efforts to find Pud, calling his safe return “a testament to the power of unity, hope, prayer and never giving up.”