TWO lions, including one majestic male, were killed in poacher snares in the KwaMsomi section of the Tembe Elephant Park on Monday.
‘Tembe’, a magnificent black-mane specimen and among the oldest lion on the reserve, was found by rangers with its head removed and its radio collar buried.
Nearby, a second lion, a sub-adult female, was later also discovered dead in a snare, while a third possibly escaped the same fate, leaving hair behind in yet another trap set by suspects who were probably targeting food species.
While the head was taken from the scene by the poachers, other body parts usually use for muthi were disregarded.
Tembe, who was named after the local tribe, was a great tourist attraction.
‘Although at the end of his productive life and no longer the dominant male, he was still big and beautiful and well known to visitors,’ said Ezemvelo’s uMkhanyakhude District Ecologist, Catharine Hanekom.
‘The cruel manner in which he died, as evidenced by the bloody scene, is what pains us most’
