A seven-year-old boy has been found alive after spending five harrowing days lost in the Matusadona National Park, a sprawling reserve in northern Zimbabwe teeming with dangerous wildlife, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) said.
Tinotenda Pundu, a young boy from a village near the park, wandered into the wilderness on December 27. His survival against overwhelming odds has been hailed as nothing short of miraculous.
According to ZimParks, Tinotenda was discovered 49 kilometers from his village after enduring the lion-infested terrain. Remarkably, the boy survived on wild fruit and water, which he sourced by digging into riverbanks—a survival skill familiar in drought-prone regions of Zimbabwe.
A Unified Search Effort
As news of Tinotenda’s disappearance spread, rangers, local villagers, and police launched an urgent search. Heavy rains initially hampered their efforts, but the discovery of the boy’s footprints on December 30 renewed hope.
Villagers contributed by playing drums to create sounds that might guide Tinotenda back, but it was the skilled rangers who ventured deep into the park and located him early on December 31.
When found, Tinotenda was frail but miraculously uninjured. The young boy demonstrated ingenuity by sleeping on perched rocks at night, avoiding the park’s predators, including lions, leopards, and hyenas.
He has since been admitted to the hospital for observation, where he is recovering.