THE Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) is putting up a lion enclosure at Tshabalala Game Sanctuary in Bulawayo as part of efforts to promote domestic tourism.
Zimparks spokesperson Mr Tinashe Farawo said construction of the pen to house seven lions was nearing completion.
“Construction of the Tshabalala Lion Enclosure is now at 90 percent completion. It will have the capacity to house seven lions, far much larger than the Chinhoyi one,” he said.
ZimParks introduced lions at the Chinhoyi Caves Recreational Park last year. Tshabalala Game Sanctuary is located eight kilometres south-east of the Bulawayo City Centre. The Game sanctuary has many lovely locations for picnics. It contains several walking and horseback trails. Incidentally, the Game Sanctuary is situated on the former lands of Fairburn Usher, a British sailor who relocated to Bulawayo in the late 1800s and married one of the daughters of King Lobengula. Mr Farawo said the bringing in of lions as part of ZimParks’ efforts to diversify fauna in a bid to attract more visitors at the wildlife sanctuary.
“We hope to diversify tourism products in Bulawayo which will also ensure that people from the city can also see lions at a sanctuary close by as we are trying to increase domestic tourism and this is the vision of our Government.
“The sanctuary has been quite dormant so we hope the lion enclosure will benefit tourists and local schools because we have an educational centre within the sanctuary which will be open to anyone who is interested to know more about wildlife,” said Mr Farawo.
Tshabalala Game Sanctuary is made up of thorny bushveld and hosts a variety of wildlife which includes guinea fowl, francolins, giraffe, zebra, warthog, impala, tsessebe and other smaller antelope, and many species of wild birds and waterfowl.
Mr Farawo said plans are also underway to put in place facilities to accommodate wildlife such as birds, snakes as well as crocodiles.
