MEMBERS of the Richards Bay Organised Crime Unit were called out on Sunday after two adult white rhino and a two year old calf were found brutally killed and dehorned in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (iWP).
The carcasses had been discovered by rangers in the remote Tewate Wilderness section of the park, where there is no road access.
‘The adult male and female had both horns crudely hacked off, ears had been removed along with some skin and flesh. The skull of calf had been removed,’ said iWP CEO Andrew Zaloumis.
‘While on a routine patrol a few days earlier, rangers had observed a lone white rhino calf and were following up the possible mortality of the calf’s mother.
‘Crime scene investigations were undertaken and investigators found .375 projectiles at each of the carcasses.
‘This cold blooded murder is a most cruel and calculated assault on South Africa’s first world heritage site.
‘With the tightening up of anti rhino poaching measures in the Kruger, it appears that increasing poaching effort is being deflected to Parks like iSimangaliso,’ said Zaloumis.
‘Anti rhino poaching strategies in iSimangaliso are continually interrogated and improved.
‘Advocates and investigators who specialize in wildlife crime as well as forensic experts and labs are used by iSimangaliso to ensure leads and evidence are pursued to the full in bringing criminals to book.
There is a R100 000 reward offered for information that leads to a conviction for poaching rhino. Contact the confidential 24-hour number 082 7977944.
