During an event in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, a rhino poacher is alleged to have been mauled by an elephant and subsequently eaten by a pride of lions.
According to police brigadier Leonard Hlathi, officers received information that a group of men went into the park on 1 April to hunt rhino, “when suddenly an elephant attacked and killed one of them.”
“His companions claimed to have moved his body to the road in the morning so that pedestrians could find it.” They then disappeared from the park.”
Hlathi stated that the men left the park and alerted a family member of the dead, who phoned police. Park rangers began searching for the man on foot and by air, but were unable to find him at first owing to low light.
Rangers and police returned on April 4 and discovered the man’s remains in the park’s Crocodile Bridge region.
“Indications found at the scene suggested that a pride of lions had consumed the remains, leaving just a human head and a pair of pants,” said Isaac Phaahla, the Kruger national park’s general manager of communications.
Three men, aged 26 to 35, were arrested in the KaMhlushwa and Komatipoort precincts, according to police.
On April 5, the suspects were charged with unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition, conspiracy to poach, and trespassing. An inquest into the man’s death has also been initiated.
“Entering Kruger national park illegally and on foot is not advisable, it holds numerous dangers, and this incident is evidence of that,” said the park’s managing executive. It’s heartbreaking to see the deceased’s daughters lamenting the loss of their father while only recovering a fraction of his remains.”
Poaching has taken a heavy toll on South Africa, which is home to over 80% of the world’s rhinos. Between 2013 and 2017, poachers murdered around 1,000 rhinos in South Africa each year. According to Save the Rhino, the population decreased to 769 in 2018, with poachers targeting the animal for its horn.
The Kruger National Park boasts the world’s highest population of rhinos and has long been a target for poachers. More than 70% of all rhinos poached in South Africa in 2015 were poached in the park.
Karma !! Good
They shouldn’t have been there and they shouldn’t have been doing what they were doing.
Sad for his but what about the Rhinos families’ that they were killing illegally