Badplaas police arrested three rhino poachers on Friday night.
At least one rhino in the Songimvelo Game Reserve was spared over the weekend when police managed to arrest three rhino poachers who were planning to enter the reserve.
The incident happened Friday night during a roadblock inspection just outside Badplaas.
Police found shooting lamps and several .303 and AK-47 rounds in the suspects’ pickup truck, along with pangas for chopping off rhino horns. Once in custody, the suspects led police to a cemetery near a house in a private nature reserve, where the illegal .303 and AK-47 rifles were hidden.
Suspects admit to killing ‘several rhinos’ in Songimvelo
According to South Africa’s News24.com, the poachers were headed to the Songimvelo Game Reserve near Barberton, and admitted they had killed several rhinos in the reserve over the past year.
Apparently, one of the three suspects is already wanted in KwaZulu-Natal for involvement in an organized crime syndicate that “specializes” in killing rhinos. The poachers are also believed to be responsible for the kidnapping and assault of another poaching syndicate member, who they thought was a police informant. The man had been severely beaten and dumped at the roadside near Badplaas two weeks ago.
It is believed that the man’s assailants assumed he would die of his injuries before being found. Instead, he survived and provided the authorities with valuable rhino poaching intelligence.
Recently, a top official of the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency was accused of being involved with a rhino poaching syndicate operating in the area. However, no connection to this latest incident has been made public at this time.
Illegal rhino horn used in ‘traditional medicines’
The WWF recently stated that more than 600 rhinos have been illegally slaughtered during the past five years, and rhino poaching has now reached a 16-year high.
Rhino poaching syndicates are funded by demand for rhino horn in China and Vietnam, where it is still used illegally in traditional medicines – despite the fact that rhino horn has been extensively analyzed and found to contain no medicinal properties.
Source: News24.com
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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