South Africa's Rhino Poachers "Poached!"

A pride of African lions

South Africa has long been and continues to be hit hard by the poaching of rhinos to feed the growing demand of rhino horns in Asia. Every national park, including the famous Kruger National Park, and game reserve has become a subject of raids by poachers who are members of well-organized criminal organizations that operate the illicit and lucrative rhino horn trade. But recently, in Sibuya Game Reserve, a group of six rhino poachers unexpectedly ran into a pride of lions which were able to kill and eat them before they could do anything. News of this sudden and unusual demise of poachers came one Monday morning when an anti-poaching patrol dog alerted its handler of a nearby commotion coming from the big cats. According to the reserve's owner, Nick Fox, a skull was found in the area along with "half of a pelvis." He further added that he was not sure how many people entered the reserve and how many were killed, three sets of shoes and gloves found at the scene indicating that one person escaped. Authorities also recovered the poachers' tools, which consisted of a high-powered rifle, a silencer, a blood-stained ax to chop off a rhino's horn, and a wire-cutter which the men allegedly used to enter the game reserve. Mr. Fox indicated that the men had planned to set up camp in the reserve and track the rhinos. According to Captain Mali Govender, a police spokeswoman, the remains from the reserve have been sent for forensic testing. The rifle has been sent to a ballistics laboratory "to establish if it has been used in any other poaching or crimes." It is believed that six lions have been involved in this encounter and have been tranquilized so that authorities could examine the scene. At the same time, they were studied by veterinarians and conservation workers who concluded that the big cats' behavior towards them in a game-viewing vehicle was the same as ten years before. Mr. Fox indicated that the lions see people in a game-viewing vehicle as something completely different from people on foot. He further added that game guides and anti-poaching personnel have continued to drive vehicles in the proximity of the lions in the last few days to see if there was any difference in their behavior and there was none.

I'm in both shock and awe that a group of rhino poachers unexpectedly fell victim to a pride of lions. It was an accidental case of hunters becoming the hunted. However, I also see this incident as an indication about how karma plays a crucial role in an individual's life. These men were poachers and their life revolved around ruthlessly slaughtering rhinos and other endangered species for a living and they payed a steep price for their actions by being mauled to death and subsequently eaten by lions putting an end to their illegal activities. I was also amazed by Mr. Fox's explanation about the reason behind the lions' behavior towards people when they are in a vehicle and when they are on foot. The lions of Sibuya Game Reserve do not see people in a vehicle as a threat, as opposed to ones on foot. Due to thick forest and dense bush, people can only view wild animals from vehicles. But the poachers were on foot, thus making them an unexpected target. In addition, the incident took place at night which means the men could not see the lions until it was too late. Even though it was a huge relief for Mr. Fox and the game staff that none of the rhinos were killed, I still firmly believe that it is crucial to stay vigilant for poachers because they will learn from their mistakes even when some of their kind were killed by lions or other wild animals. In addition, I believe it is important to keep a close watch on lions at the Sibuya Game Reserve and keep checking for any differences in their behavior because once they have tasted human blood there is a possibility they might turn to man-eating.

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