A young boy survived five days alone on a reserve full of lions and other dangerous animals by digging wells and eating fruit. Tinotenda Pundu, said to be either seven or eight, had wandered away from his village in northern Zimbabwe on December 27 and got lost.
Image Credit: Metro [A boy missing & found in Matusadonha game park Mutsa Murombedzi MP @mutsamu A boy missing & found in Matusadonha game park A true miracle in remote Kasvisva community, Nyaminyami in rural Kariba, a community where one wrong turn could easily lead into a game park. 8-year-old Tinotenda Pudu wandered away, lost direction & unknowingly headed into the perilous Matusadonha game park. After 5 long, harrowing days in the jungle near Hogwe River, which feeds into Ume river, the boy has been found alive by the incredible rangers from Matusadona Africa Parks. His ordeal, wandering 23km from home, sleeping on a rocky perch, amidst roaring lions, passing elephants, eating wild fruits and just the unforgiving wild i too much for an 8year old. We are overwhelmed with gratitude to the brave park rangers, the tireless Nyaminyami community who beat night drums each day to get the boy hear sound & get the direction back home & everyone who joined the search. Above all, we thank God for watching over Tinotenda and leading him back home safely. This is a testament to the power of unity, hope, prayer and never giving up.]
He was found around 30 miles (50km) away five days later, in Matusadona National Park, weak and dehydrated but alive. Tinotenda used sticks to dig into a river bank for water, a skill taught in the drought-prone area, and ate a wild fruit known as tsvanzva.
Image Credit: Metro [Male African lion standing in the savanna]
‘He was clever enough to… sleep on perched rocks so that lions and other wildlife could not get to him,’ said local MP Mutsa Murombedzi. After five days Tinotenda heard a park ranger’s car and ran towards it, but by the time he got there it had gone.
Image Credit: Metro [A true miracle in remote Kasvisva community, Nyaminyami in rural Kariba, a community where one wrong turn could easily lead into a game park. 8-year-old Tinotenda Pudu wandered away, lost direction & unknowingly headed into the perilous Matusadonha game park. After 5 long, harrowing days in the jungle near Hogwe River, which feeds into Ume river, the boy has been found alive by the incredible rangers from Matusadona Africa Parks. His ordeal, wandering 23km from home, sleeping on a rocky perch, amidst roaring lions, passing elephants, eating wild fruits and just the unforgiving wild i too much for an 8year old. Mutsa Murombedzi MP @mutsamu I managed to get a picture from someone in the Zambezi Valley of the nchoomva fruit that the boy was eating during his ordeal in the Matusadonha wilderness]
Thankfully the rangers later returned and noticed fresh child-sized foot prints and found him soon after. He was taken to hospital and put on a drip, according to local media. ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo said: ‘Remarkably, it is estimated that he walked through the harsh terrain of the lion-infested Matusadona National Park for 49 kilometres from his village to the point where he was found.’.
Rangers and police launched a search for Tinotenda immediately after he was reported missing. Ms Murombedzi said villagers also helped with the search, ‘playing drums hoping that he would follow the sound.’. She added that it was a ‘miracle’ he lasted so long alone in the dangerous terrain.
![[A boy missing & found in Matusadonha game park Mutsa Murombedzi MP @mutsamu A boy missing & found in Matusadonha game park A true miracle in remote Kasvisva community, Nyaminyami in rural Kariba, a community where one wrong turn could easily lead into a game park. 8-year-old Tinotenda Pudu wandered away, lost direction & unknowingly headed into the perilous Matusadonha game park. After 5 long, harrowing days in the jungle near Hogwe River, which feeds into Ume river, the boy has been found alive by the incredible rangers from Matusadona Africa Parks. His ordeal, wandering 23km from home, sleeping on a rocky perch, amidst roaring lions, passing elephants, eating wild fruits and just the unforgiving wild i too much for an 8year old. We are overwhelmed with gratitude to the brave park rangers, the tireless Nyaminyami community who beat night drums each day to get the boy hear sound & get the direction back home & everyone who joined the search. Above all, we thank God for watching over Tinotenda and leading him back home safely. This is a testament to the power of unity, hope, prayer and never giving up.]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_234843821-33b3.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=486)
![[Male African lion standing in the savanna]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_234849684-25da.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
![[A true miracle in remote Kasvisva community, Nyaminyami in rural Kariba, a community where one wrong turn could easily lead into a game park. 8-year-old Tinotenda Pudu wandered away, lost direction & unknowingly headed into the perilous Matusadonha game park. After 5 long, harrowing days in the jungle near Hogwe River, which feeds into Ume river, the boy has been found alive by the incredible rangers from Matusadona Africa Parks. His ordeal, wandering 23km from home, sleeping on a rocky perch, amidst roaring lions, passing elephants, eating wild fruits and just the unforgiving wild i too much for an 8year old. Mutsa Murombedzi MP @mutsamu I managed to get a picture from someone in the Zambezi Valley of the nchoomva fruit that the boy was eating during his ordeal in the Matusadonha wilderness]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_234843819-ce6d-e1735924338683.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
