One of the big problems that many wildlife reserves face in Africa is the difficulty with poaching. Elephants, rhinoceros, and many other animals are often hunted down and killed illegally for a variety of different reasons. At times, poachers may even kill so many of these animals that they are on the brink of extinction and even though their numbers are disappearing quickly, it doesn’t stop the poaching from continuing to happen. That is where wildlife reserves, such as the Sibuya Game Reserve come in. They help to protect those species.
Sibuya is 30 square miles of dedicated land in Eastern Cape, South Africa. On that property, you will find some of the biggest game animals in the region, including lions, elephants, rhinos, buffaloes, and leopards. The black market has forced poachers to come onto the property in order to kill the rhinos because their horns are sold at very high prices. This past year, three poachers went on to the property to illegally hunt rhinos but they ended up getting eaten alive by lions that were on the reserves.
Three rhino poachers eaten by lions in South Africa https://t.co/GaxWN3Thzy
— Margaret (@tazarae20) February 2, 2019
The owner of the park, Nick Fox said that it wasn’t clear how many poachers there were originally or when they were attacked. It happened, however, between July 1 in the evening and the morning of July 2. The only reason why it was noticed was that there were very few remains of the attack left over. When they looked at the gloves that were found, however, they feel that there were three poachers.
[ICYMI] Three suspected rhino poachers eaten by lions https://t.co/WwyAjRUG1q
— eNCA (@eNCA) July 6, 2018
Fox explained, “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. They came heavily armed with hunting rifles and axes which we have recovered and enough food to last them for several days so we suspect they were after all of our rhinos here. The only body part we found was one skull and one bit of pelvis, everything else was completely gone.”
Rangers later found the remains and police were notified. They found the gear in the nearby bushes, including a high-powered rifle with a silencer, wire cutters, and an ax. They continue to search but no survivors were found. It is now being investigated by the police.