Animals Kill Poacher in South Africa

In a National Park in Northeastern South Africa, a suspected poacher was attacked and killed by an elephant and later was eaten by a group of lions, last week.

Kruger National Park officials have confirmed that the family members of the poacher have informed them first about the incident after they received a call from a partner of the poacher informing them that an elephant killed him. The man is believed to have gone into the national park to poach a rhino.

Accordingly, a search party operation was launched, but the body of the man could not be located in the area as described by the family. A week later, Park rangers recovered what was left of the poacher’s remains his skull and pieces of his pants.

In a statement from the park, the office of the National Park informed, “Indications found at the scene suggested that a pride of lions had devoured the remains leaving only a human skull and a pair of pants”.

Police have arrested four alleged accomplices of the poacher and are produced in court for a further legal course of action.

Glenn Phillips, Park executive in a statement said, “Entering Kruger National Park illegally and on foot is not wise, it holds many dangers and this incident is evidence of that”. He also said, “It is very sad to see the daughters of the deceased mourning the loss of their father, and worse still, only being able to recover very little of his remains”.

Few days before the incident, two forest rangers, while conducting a routine patrol were also attacked and injured by an elephant, park officials reported.

The two million hectare Kruger National Park is one of the most popular game parks in the world and which is home to hundreds of species of animals, including buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion and rhino.

Kruger National Park has an ongoing problem with poaching, as there is a strong demand for rhino horn in the international market mostly in Asian countries. The animals are targeted for their horn that is believed to have medicinal value in Asia.

In the year 2018, the environment ministry of South Africa said they have recorded 769 rhino poaching incidents and 421 of them is recorded in the Kruger National Park. The same year more than 360 rhino poachers and 36 alleged rhino horn traffickers were arrested from across the country.

In a record seizure last Saturday, Hong Kong customs duty officials have confiscated about 82.5 kilograms of rhino horns from South Africa, which is worth over $2 million.