MALALANE – Last Wednesday residents of Fish Eagle Bend received SMSes at 03:00 from Malelane Against Crime (MAC), in which they were urged to stay indoors as a shootout with poachers has erupted across the river in KNP.
The MAC message was updated later during the day that “Poachers were caught and arrested this morning, after several shots had been fired”.
Eight poachers were arrested during the hunt down and a .458 rifle with ammunition as well as an axe and a panga were confiscated. Seven were detained at the Skukuza SAPS prison last Wednesday, and one who had sustained a bullet wound in the shootout, was taken to hospital.
The southern section of KNP has experienced a heavy onslaught by poachers in the past three weeks.
The redhead prince planned his visit to southern Africa at the end of last year and it was reported that he would visit Namibia.
The head of anti-poaching, Maj Gen (ret) Johan Jooste, would not deny nor confirm Prince Harry’s presence in the KNP.
The prince and his older brother, Prince William, are both staunch supporters of the protection of rhino in the wild, since the London Declaration in March 2014. He supports the anti-rhino poaching campaign called Operation Corona.
Conservationist organisations claim that 703 rhinos have been poached so far this year of which 558 were Kruger rhinos.
SANParks remains mum on their poaching statistics as the minister of environmental affairs is the only person who can officially release this information.
