A rhino cow had to be euthanised in the Kruger National Park after she was badly mutilated by poachers on Sunday March 31, a day after a South African Air Force helicopter crashed in the park claiming the lives of all five soldiers on board, according to Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) spokesman, Albi Modise.
Modise said SANParks rangers heard two shots and reacted with the support of the SANParks helicopter.
“During a brief contact, one armed suspected poacher was arrested. A .375 rifle and silencer were recovered. A badly mutilated rhino cow was found alive close to the scene of the contact. The animal was bleeding profusely from having its horns, entire mouth, tongue, nose and eyes hacked off and had to be euthanised. The search for the alleged poacher’s accomplice is continuing,” said Modise.
A total of 203 rhinos have been poached in South Africa since the beginning of the year, according to a statement released by the DEA.
The Kruger National Park remains the hardest hit with 145 rhinos poached since January. A total of 18 rhinos have been killed in North West, 17 have been killed in KwaZulu Natal, 13 in Limpopo and 10 in Mpumalanga.
He said a total of 60 people had been arrested since the beginning of this year, 36 of them in the Kruger National Park.
“Fifty-six incursions by alleged rhino poachers were recorded by members of the KNP ranger corps between March 21 and April 1. In the shootouts that ensued between SANParks rangers and poachers, one alleged poacher was fatally wounded on March 31, while another was believed to have committed suicide on Monday April 1 after he was surrounded by members of the ranger corps,” said Modise.
