African Lions Loose In Georgia? Is the Circus in Town?

Yes, African Lions are just that-lions from Africa, which means that they are from and found there. But in Georgia, as well as other states, these large cats have been seen in the wild.

In Loren Coleman's "Mysterious America" he reports of an incident in Georgia in 1976.
In the little town of Alapaha, and yes, that is a real town in South Georgia and I actually met a couple who live there a few years ago, there was a report of a weird animal in the pasture of Mr. J.H. Holyoak. Mr. Holyoak was driving his pick-up truck to check his cattle when he spotted something strange in the pasture. At first he thought it was a big dog chasing his cattle. But upon a closer look, he noticed that this animal looked half-panther and half-lion. Mr. H (I will abbreviate as his name is hard to type) commented that it looked pretty much like a panther except it had a mane on its neck. According to him, the mane resembled that of an African lion. His son, Ken, a graduate of the University of Georgia, reported that he had never seen anything like this in the pastures and fields of South Georgia. The sigthing took place in Berrien County. He shot the animal and wounded it, but his shot did not bring it down. The animal ran off in to the woods after the shot. Ken reported that other area residents reported seeing the large cat in the forests and swamps between Alapaha and a little town called Enigma, and as Coleman points out, that is certainly an interesting name for such an occurance.

There are other reports of lions in Georgia. In the 1960s it was reported that two hunters killed what looked like a young African lion in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Georgia. There is a photograph of this kill, and the name of the man who owns the picture is Malcolm Edwards. I know nothing else about him. It was rumored that the animal had been kept as a pet.

There are probably more than a few explanations for this. First, there could be some large cat hybrid running around that we don't know about. There are a few species of large cats here in Georgia in the wild, and this could easily be a hybrid of such. On the other hand, these could have been lions that escaped from a circus. I would rule out an escapee from Zoo Atlanta, as Alapaha is over a few hours south of Atlanta. Alapaha is close to the Florida line in South Georgia. On the other hand, the killing in Blue Ridge was more than likely an actual lion being kept as a pet. I think that is illegal in Georgia, and if it is not, it should be for this very reason. But if an escaped lion somehow got out in to the wild in Georgia, I am sure it could breed or could have been out actually chasing those cattle for food. I shudder to think what might have happened had the Holyoaks wondered up on it accidentally while it was feeding. From the sound of his report, the gunshots from his rifle did hardly anything to it.

Oh well, if Semba is actually out there in Georgia, I wonder if he likes peaches, onions or peanuts? You never know. It does appear he has a taste for steak, though!