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Three rhino poachers devoured by lions in South Africa

Credits: Flickr/Eric Kilby

Three poachers who were tracking endangered rhinoceroses in a private animal reserve in South Africa were recently attacked and devoured by a group of lions. Their bodies, or at least what remained of them, were found on the morning of the 2nd July 2018.

It was difficult to determine the number of victims, but Nick Fox, the owner of the reserve, estimated that there had been three people. They “found themselves in the middle of a group of lions, apparently a large group, so they didn’t have much time to react. Their remains were dispersed over a very large area, which makes it difficult to reconstruct the scene and find all the evidence.” But although the exact number of victims remains uncertain, other clues left at the site of the massacre leave no doubt as to the illicit intentions of the group.

“They were armed with among other things a very powerful rifle with a silencer, an axe, a cutting pliers and food provisions for several days”, he explained. “All the characteristics of a gang who were looking to kill rhinos and remove their horns.” Keep in mind that thousands of rhinos are killed in Africa every year for their horns, which are highly valuable in traditional Chinese medicine. There are only 5,000 specimens of black rhinos remaining on the continent, barely 2000 of whom are in South Africa. The country is also home to 80% of the world’s population of white rhinos, accounting for around 20,000 specimens.

“Although we are saddened by any death, the poachers came here to kill our animals, and that sends a very clear message to other poachers, that they won’t always come out on top”, continues Nick Fox. “The comments on our Facebook page are talking about karma and warnings”. A weapons laboratory will carry out tests on the weapon recovered, to determine whether it had been linked to other illegal poaching activities.

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