Early in a morning late in May, the Victoria Falls Anti-Poaching Unit (VFAPU) was patrolling around Victoria Falls town, near the boundary of Zambezi National Park.  The game scouts came across a horrendous snare line that told a story of terror and pain.  Entangled in one snare were the remains of a buffalo carcass. The snare line was a few days old, and a young buffalo had gotten caught early on and was strangled to death.  Shortly thereafter, two male lions came to feed on the buffalo carcass as it was an easy meal.  While feeding, one of these young male lions also then got caught with a wire snare around his neck.  Over the next day or so he struggled to free himself, only to force the snare tighter and tighter around his neck, eventually causing his strangulation. 

Due to the claw marks around and up the tree that the snare was tethered to, and the digging around the lion carcass, you can see how hard this lion tried to get out of the snare.  Meanwhile the other male lion was nearby (given his tracks), and helpless to assist his mate.  Charles Brightman (director of VFAPU) kindly contacted the Wild Horizons Wildlife Trust to assist with the investigation, and DNA samples, whisker photos, and the skull of the lion have been taken. The Wild Horizons Wildlife Trust works together with the Oxford Carnivore Research Project in Hwange, and all samples, etc have been passed on for identification of the deceased cat, and evaluation of how his death will affect the overall population dynamics.