Story By: Lee Bullen, Sub Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Asia Wire Report

Video Credit: CEN/@JulianJansen

A fearsome lion that mauled livestock during a bloodthirsty rampage has been caught and sent to a police holding cell.

The lion, believed to be between two and four years old, escaped from the Karoo National Park on 15th February. 

Tracker teams at the park in the south-western South African province of Western Cape were working round the clock to find him.

Pictures Credit: CEN & CEN/@JulianJansen & CEN/SANParks

Park rangers tranquilised the big cat from a helicopter above a rocky field on 13th March, as seen in one of the clips.

The lion then spent the night in a police holding cell in the town of Sutherland while waiting to be transported back to the park.

During its month of freedom in the South African countryside, the lion had ventured more than 250 kilometres (155 miles) from the national park and ravaged livestock on farms.

Video Credit: CEN/@JulianJansen

South African National Parks general manager Reynold Thakhuli told local media: “He has been captured, and is safe and sound.

“He was darted from a helicopter and is in a police holding cell in Sutherland. We are just waiting for a crate to come and transport him back to the park.

Reynold added: “He is certainly not a criminal!”

It is not the first time that a big cat has escaped from the national park. Sylvester the lion broke out in 2015 and again in 2016.

He evaded capture for three weeks during his first escape and wandered more than 370 kilometres (230 miles).

Netizen ‘Taryn Arnott van Jaarsveld’ joked: “Shame, a police holding cell. Doing time for his crimes…”