Human remains found - Developing story

[PennyinSA]

https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2018- ... lion-camp/

[Richprins]

Human remains found in lion camp
By Gareth Wilson - 04 July 2018


Lions on the Sibuya Game Reserve outside Kenton-on-Sea are believed to have killed a suspected rhino poacher who was attempting to stalk the animals.

News of the death of a poacher hit yesterday after reserve rangers found human remains in the lion enclosure.

According to officials, the discovery was made at 7pm on Tuesday night but, due to bad lighting and it not being safe to enter the lion enclosure, police returned on Wednesday morning.

By afternoon, the police airwing helicopter had flown over the reserve to assess if there were more poachers in the area.

The find led to the vet tranquilising all six lions in the camp at 8am on Wednesday.

Forensic experts and detectives on the scene found a hunting rifle, with a silencer attached, as well as a long axe and wire cutters.

The human remains were found scattered in various parts of the bush.

Police spokeswoman Captain Mali Govender confirmed that the remains had been found in the lion camp and that detectives were on the scene.

“Due to poor light (Tuesday night) the scene could not be processed. On Wednesday morning, investigators and specialists combed the scene and managed to retrieve remains which were taken by the department of health to conduct forensic testing. A rifle and an axe were found at the scene,” she said.

Asked if the person was thought to be a poacher, Govender said that they were unable to speculate.

“The identity of the person also remains unknown,” she said.

“The firearm has been taken by police and will be sent to the ballistic laboratory to establish if it has been used in any other poachings or crimes.”

Attempts to get hold of the reserve owner Nick Fox failed.

In June 2016 two white rhino were killed and a third died later after sustaining serious injuries from the poaching.

This year alone, nine rhinos, all shot with a high-calibre hunting rifle, have been killed by poachers on Eastern Cape Reserves.

Last week Bella, a rhino at the Kragga Kamma Game Park, was killed just two weeks after she was de-horned.

The Sibuya reserve is situated fairly close to Port Alfred where three rhinos were killed in May.

[Alf]

I have some inside info regarding this.

There's still one poacher inside the reserve (injured) and they are looking for him. They were hot on his tale but bad light influenced progress but they will resume the search tomorrow morning

[Richprins]

Good! Hope he also gets eaten!

[Flutterby]

Karma?

[Richprins]

Lions devouring three rhino poachers in SA make headlines overseas
A head, body parts and three pairs of empty shoes found in Sibuya Game Reserve were part of the evidence indicating that three poachers had been eaten by lions

Staff of the Sibuya Game Reserve near Kenton-on-Sea made a grisly find as darkness fell on July 3 – one head, a number of body parts, three pairs of empty shoes and rhino poaching equipment indicated that at least three poachers had been eaten by lions while they were about it.

Sibuya Game Reserve is popular with British tourists which is one of the reasons the story has been widely carried in UK media.



PHOTO:SIBUYA

The owner of Sibuya Nick Fox (60) said: “We found enough body parts and three pairs of empty shoes which suggest to us that lions ate at least three (poachers) 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.

“But the lions are our watchers and guardians and they poached the wrong pride and became a meal.

“While we are saddened by any loss of life the poachers came here to kill our animals and this sends out a very clear message to other poachers that you will not always be the winner.

“The lions may have eaten more of them, it is difficult to tell as the area is very thick with bush and you can’t be sure what they have taken off to feed elsewhere.

“The best estimate we have so far is that three of the gang were eaten.”




THREE RHINOS WERE KILLED IN SIBUYA IN 2016/ROTARIAN ACTION GROUP FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES


https://lowvelder.co.za/afp/429251/lion ... s-overseas

[Dzombo]

This was in our news too

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-44728507

[Lisbeth]

Lions eat 3 suspected poachers at Eastern Cape game reserve

2018-07-05 16:11

At least three suspected poachers who were apparently hunting for rhinos have been mauled to death and eaten by lions at a game reserve in the Eastern Cape, the owner said on Thursday.

The men entered the Sibuya Game Reserve on the southeast coast armed with a high-powered rifle and an axe in the early hours of Monday and were found dismembered the following day.

"They strayed into a pride of lions – it's a big pride so they didn't have too much time," reserve owner Nick Fox, 60, told AFP.

"We're not sure how many there were – there's not much left of them.

"There seems to be clothing for three people. I've not heard of it before in our area."

Police forensics officers were on the scene conducting tests on the remains of the victims, Fox added.

"We went in yesterday – I got our vet to dart [anaesthetise] all the lions," he said.

"I think we had a stroke of luck here that the lions got to them before they got to the rhinos.

"We lost three rhino in March 2016."

Police spokesperson Mali Govender said the remains were taken to the Department of Health for testing.

"Part of the investigation would be with the department of health to conduct DNA testing to establish if the remains belong to each other. In that way we would be able to find out if it had been more than one individual," she said.

Fewer than 25 000 rhinos remain in the wild in Africa due to a surge in poaching.

Rhinos are targeted to feed booming demand for rhino horn in China, Vietnam and other Asian countries, where it is believed to have medicinal qualities.

Fox said that the reserve was still open to guests despite the incident.

"It's still business as usual, it doesn't change anything we do," he said.

"The comments on our Facebook are all talking about karma and warnings."