Kruger National Park

Four black rhino poachers shot dead

More valuable tha a pale male — More valuable than a pale male

Four suspected rhino poachers were shot dead in the Kruger National Park at the weekend.

Rangers in the park made contact with a group of six suspected rhino horn poachers on Saturday, SanParks spokesman Ike Phaahla said on Monday.

“A shoot-out ensued between the suspected poachers and the rangers; three of the alleged poachers were killed and the other three were arrested,” said Phaahla.

Phaahla said two rifles, ammunition and rhino poaching equipment were recovered.

Another suspected rhino horn poacher was shot and killed by rangers in Crocodile Bridge in Mpumalanga on Saturday.

Limpopo police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said police also arrested four suspected rhino poachers on Sunday at Hoedspruit.

“Police found the alleged poachers in possession of a hunting rifle, firearm silencer and ammunition,” said Hangwani.

The four men aged between 33 and 46 will appear in the Phalaborwa Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on charges of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition and charges under the National Environmental Biodiversity Act which includes conspiracy to poach rhino.

The court date for the first three arrested was not available. – Sapa

Fire in Kruger Park not controlled burning

A blaze that led to the death of an elephant in the Kruger National Park was not a controlled fire, SA National Parks said on Monday.

It was responding to rumours about the fire last week on social networking sites.

“This was as a result of a runaway fire that jumped over the border from Mozambique into the KNP,” said Freek Venter, KNP general manager of conservation.

“A south-easterly wind created adverse conditions which resulted in a fast-moving fire on the day,” he said in a statement.

Venter said the smoke from “this type of fire sometimes overcomes animals and confuses them”. The elephant sustained serious burns and was put down.

“With regards to controlled fires, SANParks has a strict fire danger index guideline, which indicates when it is safe to administer controlled burns and KNP is no exception,” he said.

There were claims on Facebook and other social platforms that a rhino was also injured in the fire. This could not be confirmed.

Venter said an investigation was underway. – SAPA

Anthrax outbreak kill 30 hippo

Thirty hippos have been killed by a bacterial virus in the Kruger National Park (KNP), the SA National Parks (SANParks) said on Monday.

SANParks said an anthrax outbreak was identified in late August and post mortem results confirmed that most of the dead hippo were infected.

The carcasses were discovered along the Letaba and Olifants rivers.

Spokesman for SANParks, Reynold Thakhuli, explained that anthrax was a highly infectious disease in animals caused by the bacterium, bacillus anthracis.

He said the outbreaks were a natural occurrence in the northern parts of the KNP and were experienced more or less every ten years.

“It is thought that the disease is spread mainly through vultures and blowflies. Vultures are immune against it and they spread the disease by consuming contaminated meat from affected carcasses and then defecating in water bodies where they regularly drink or bath.

“The toxins released by the bacteria when it sporulates are also fatal to some species, ” said Thakhuli.

“It is also closely linked to population density – when certain species like kudu and hippo reach high densities then anthrax spreads more rapidly.”

Park rangers were monitoring the rivers to check whether any more animals had died.

In a previous outbreak, around 2000 animals were killed. – Sapa