German tourist found alive three days after going missing in Zimbabwe safari park

Andreas Hoberg found after three days inside park inhabited by lions, buffaloes, leopards, elephants ‘and all the expected dangerous wildlife found in the bush’

A German tourist who went missing in a wildlife park in northern Zimbabwe was found alive by rescuers three days later.

Andreas Hoberg was found in “good health” on Tuesday at the Matusadona National Park, said the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.

Before going missing, he was last seen at a park shop buying a drink before going for a game drive around 3.30pm on Saturday.

By 6pm, the car rental company he had hired for the safari was unable to locate him on the GPS tracking system.

Tinashe Farawo with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority said the rescue involved deploying a helicopter, several vehicles and sniffer dogs to scour the remote wildlife park.

“We were gravely worried. We are happy he is well. He says his car developed a mechanical fault. It’s a white car, so we were hopeful we would find it,” he said.

The age of the German tourist was not revealed.

Zimbabwe’s 1,400-sq-kilometre Matusadona National Park is inhabited by lions, buffaloes, leopards, elephants “and all the expected dangerous wildlife found in the bush”, Mr Farawo said.

The park is flanked by Lake Kariba in the north and two perennial rivers – the Ume and the Sanyati. The park gets its name from the undulating Matusadona hills that form part of its water-rich landscape.

In 2020, Zimbabwean authorities reported the recovery of two park rangers’ bodies, who, after arresting four poachers, were later thrown into Lake Kariba by the suspects. The rangers had detained the poachers overnight before attempting to take them by boat to Kariba town.

Additional reporting by agencies