Missing lions: 'Like looking for a needle in a haystack'

The Captured in Africa Foundation's Drew Abrahamson says no lions have been spotted over the past few days. 

"What happens with lions is, if they out roaming and sort of in a reserve situation, when they patrol territory, they'll disappear for a few days and generally make their way back to where they started. 

"They are still there in the area. Two were spotted apparently at 12:00 in the morning.  They are still there, they are still around. Its just like looking for a needle in a haystack since the area is so vast." 

At the weekend, four different types of aircraft were deployed to intensify the search for the five missing lions. 

Abrahamson says they have also not been able to locate the owner of the lions. 

ALSO READ: Eight escaped lions recaptured

"We do have a lead that we will be following up today. We have been given the contact details of a person who apparently has lions 20 or 30 kilometers away. 

"But it's strange that if he has, he hasn't come forward and said anything."

Abrahamson says the probe into exactly what transpired will also kick off once the lions have been captured.

"The only thing we can do is when we do find them and sedate them is to run a microchip scanner across them to see if they have been chipped.

ALSO READ: Escaped Kruger Park lions shot and killed

"All lions legally in the country that are captive need to be microchipped. All the details, the owner's details, the cat's details, everything is on that chip." 

Abrahamson however suspects the lions have not been micro-chipped.

"If they were owned legally by someone that person would have come forward and said: 'I've lost my cats'."