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The four lions have been roaming the area for more than three weeks.

Officials from the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority have since put down one of the four lions.

Villagers are living in fear of losing their lives and livestock as the lions continue to be seen in the area even in broad daylight.

The most affected areas include Standish Estate and Arda Balu Estate.

Villagers from Nyamandlovu who spoke to Chronicle said the lions usually move at night and attack cattle and donkeys.

“The lions have been on the loose for some time and we are afraid that they will start killing people. We made a report to the parks officials and they came and shot one of the lions,” said Mr Rodney Ndlovu, a farmer from Umguza District.

“It is unfortunate that we cannot use snares for the lions because our livestock might also be snared. These animals are now even being spotted in the afternoon and people are panicking.”

He appealed to the Government to come up with measures to remove the animals in the area as soon as possible.

“We have had problems with elephants destroying our crops and now lions are all over the place. The Government should do something about this problem immediately because these domestic animals are important assets to most villagers in the area.

“Most villagers use cattle and donkeys as draught power, while some earn a living through rearing livestock. Such developments disturb progress in terms of agriculture,” said Mr Ndlovu.

The district administrator for Umguza, Mrs Ennetty Sithole, confirmed the incident, saying her office had communicated with the council to get rid of the lions.

“The lions started killing people’s livestock in ward 8 and they have moved to Nyamandlovu. We have since communicated with the Umguza Rural District Council and they are liaising with parks department officials to get rid of the lions.

“A number of villagers have lost their cattle in Nyamandlovu but the responsible authorities are trying by all means to solve the crisis. I hope this would be done as soon as possible before people lose their lives to the dangerous animals,” said Mrs Sithole.

The officer commanding Lupane Police District, Chief Superintendent Johannes Govo, said police officers from the area were working with officials from parks to get rid of the lions.

“One of the wild animals has been killed by officials from the parks and police officers are on the ground helping them to solve the problem.

“The problem is that the animals move from one place to the other but I am sure that the other three would be killed soon,” said Chief Supt Govo.

Efforts to get a comment from the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority public relations manager, Ms Caroline Washaya Moyo, were fruitless as she said she was still trying to gather information on the issue.