A suspected rhino poacher in South Africa’s Kruger National Park was recently killed by elephants before his body was eaten by lions.
The now deceased man’s accomplices revealed to his family how he had been “killed by an elephant” during an attempted rhino poaching in the park, one of Africa’s largest game reserves according to The Hill.
The family then shared with park authorities this information.
The police arranged a search party who eventually discovered the man’s remains —- but not before the lions got to him.
The victim’s alleged accomplices were arrested the day before.
“During this search, which was boosted with a further compliment of Field Rangers, the remains of a body were discovered,” the park service said. “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.”
Glenn Phillips, managing executive of Kruger National Park, gave his condolences to the victim’s family in a statement.
“Entering Kruger National Park illegally and on foot is not wise, it holds many dangers and this incident is evidence of that,” Phillips 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.”
The park service added how the victim’s four alleged accomplices are currently in custody and will “appear in court in due course.”
Many folks were quick to comment how the man got what he deserved, saying:
“That is some serious jungle justice.”
“The only successful group project.”
“The circle of life.”
Two suspected rhino poachers were mauled to death last year by a pride of lions in the Sibuya reserve after allegedly trespassing into the protected area, according to a BBC report.
Rangers found the remains of at least two poachers.
The owner of the reserve, Nick Fox, said rangers also discovered “high powered rifle with a silencer, an ax, wire cutters and … food supplies for a number of days,” according to a press release shared via Facebook.
Fox said how the supplies were “the hallmarks of a gang intent on killing rhino[s] and removing their horns.”
“They strayed into a pride of lions — it’s a big pride so they didn’t have too much time,” Fox shared with the AFP news agency.
“We’re not sure how many there were,” Fox continued. “There’s not much left of them.”
Fox revealed how an anti-poaching team arrived on the scene and quickly went to local law enforcement over the remains.
“Clearly, the poachers had walked into a pride of six lions and some, if not all had been killed,” Fox said.
“As it was already dark it was not possible to investigate the area until first light at which time we arranged for our vet to dart the entire pride of lions so that Police forensic teams assisted by our Anti-poaching unit could comb the immediate area for clues,” Fox continued.
Fox said the team was not sure how many poachers exactly had been killed.
“At this stage it is not clear exactly how many poachers were killed but the Police forensic team continue to investigate.”
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