Animal
poachers are hunters who illegally poison, catch, and kill animals so that they
can sell the animal or its parts on the black market. In an incident that took
place at a private game park in South Africa, it was the other way around.
A man
believed to be a poacher was mauled to death by the pride of lions he was
hunting. It happened in the province of Limpopo of northeastern South Africa
over the weekend of February 10th. The pack of lions attacked and killed the
suspected poacher near Kruger National Park at the Hoedspruit private game
park.
Little of
the man’s remains were left as the animals ate his body after killing him. Only
his head was left behind. Moatshe Ngoepe, a local police spokesman, said
authorities initially thought the dead man was a park employee and tractor
driver who had gone missing. However, that man has since been found alive.
The identity
of the eaten man is still being determined in an ongoing investigation. A
loaded hunting rifle was found nearby, leading authorities to believe he was,
in fact, a poacher. Additionally, poaching in the area has been on the rise in
recent years due to an increase in rhinoceros poaching.
In January
of 2017, three poisoned male lions in Limpopo were found decapitated and their
paws had been removed as well. Poaching is hunting without legal permission
from whoever controls the land and contributes to loss of vulnerable and
endangered populations of animals like tigers, rhinoceroses, or orangutans.
Though rhino
poaching is historically more common in this region, the man was found in what
is considered lion territory. Since much of the man’s body was eaten, it
creates a greater challenge when it comes to authorities being able to easily
identify him. It seems having his head could be helpful in figuring out who he
is.
“The process of identifying the deceased has already commenced, and it might be made possible by the fact that his head is amongst the remains that were found at the scene,” Ngoepe said.
A reason
lion body parts are sought after by poachers is their use in certain
traditional medicines popular in parts of Africa and Southeast Asia. Those
caught for poaching animals are usually given penalties in the forms of hefty
fines, so poachers see it as an economic risk-to-reward balance. Of course,
there is nothing that can be done when it comes to the animals that are
captured. And in this case, the risk-to-reward stakes were clearly more than
economic ones.
This things make my life !!
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