RIO DE JANEIRO, April 30 (RIA Novosti) - Brazilian environmental authorities said on Wednesday that they had found tracks belonging to an adult African lion in the rainforests of the southeast Brazilian state of Sao Paolo.
Ecologists are baffled as to how the lion, whose natural habitat is limited to African savannas and Asian grasslands, found his way to the area. All attempts to catch the lion have so far proved unsuccessful.
The animal was first spotted by villagers near the city of Sao Jose do Rio Preto in the northeastern part of the state.
"It was definitely a lion - it had a mane and a tufted tail," a local tractor operator who saw the giant cat told police.
Local residents have been advised to stay away from the places where the lion has been spotted and to stick together at sunrise and in the evening, the times when the predator is most likely to attack.
