Due to the reserve’s large diversity of animals, the Sibuya Game Reserve in South Africa has seen plenty of action from poachers over the last few years.
Recently though, karma came calling for a group of poachers who broke into the reserve in an effort to hunt rhinos. presumably, it seems the hunters became the hunted after park rangers found the poachers remains the following morning.
Nick Fox, who owns the park reckons that the poachers were eaten alive by the park’s pride of lions, because there were only a few remains found, rangers couldn’t be sure exactly how many of the poachers were killed.
Along with the scant bodily remains, three pairs of men’s boots and three pairs of gloves were recovered from the scene.
“The only body part we found was one skull and one bit of pelvis, everything else was completely gone.”
Fox
Nick said it was reported that an anti poaching dog was heard barking at about 4 am that morning, the dog’s handler apparently heard activity from the lions but didn’t think too much of it as it’s not unusual for the pride to be roaming the area at that time.
During the first rounds of the morning, rangers stumbled upon the grisly scene. Along with the few human remains were a high powered rifle, wire cutters and an axe, which Nick says is the typical kit of rhino poachers.
Sibuya Game Reserve is situated within the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It’s thirty square mile boundaries are home to Lions, rhino, elephants, leopards and buffalo.
The demand for rhino horn is pretty high unfortunately. On the South African black market the horn of a white rhino can reportedly fetch around $3,000 a pound and with a typical horn weighing in from anywhere between two to eight pounds, there’s a fair amount of illicit profit to be made.
South Africa is home to around eighty percent of the world’s thirty thousand rhino population. Just over one thousand rhino were poached in South Africa last year, according to the Department of Environmental Affairs.
After the poachers were discovered, a search was undertaken for any remaining survivors. Fox said:
“We found enough body parts and three pairs of empty shoes which suggest to us that the lions ate at least three of them but it is thick bush and there could be more.”
Fox
He added that although the incident was sad, it should serve as a message to other poachers who try to illegally hunt in the reserve.
He added: “The lions are our watchers and guardians and they picked the wrong pride and became a meal.”
Fox
I don’t know about you but i’m struggling to find any sympathy for the poachers.
Source: Stoptheworld
