At least two rhino poachers were mauled to death and eaten by lions on a South African game farm, the reserve’s owner said on Thursday.
According to the owner, the incident came to light on Tuesday afternoon, when a ranger, who was taking guests on a safari drive at the Sibuya game reserve in Eastern Cape, found the human remains near a pride of lions. “We suspect two were killed, possibly three,” Sibuya’s owner Nick Fox said.
When King Juan Carlos paid an estimated $60,000 to kill an elephant in Botswana, it caused a political scandal, and the shooting of Cecil the Lion made worldwide headlines. But hundreds of Westerners still come to South Africa to kill wild animals.
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Beside the remains, an axe and three pairs of shoes and gloves were discovered by the police and an anti-poaching unit later. “We thought they must have been rhino poachers but the axe confirmed it,” Fox said. “They used the rifle to shoot the animal and the axe to remove the horn,” he added.
South Africa is home to more than 80 per cent of the world’s rhinos. More than 1,000 rhinos were killed in South Africa last year.
