*A suspected rhino poacher was trampled by an elephant last week and then eaten by a pride of lions in Kruger National Park, South Africa.
According to the BBC, a search party only found a human skull and a pair of trousers on Thursday, officials said.
Four of the dead man’s accomplices have been arrested, and they told his relatives that he was killed by an elephant after they entered the park on Tuesday night to poach rhinos.
“Entering Kruger National Park illegally and on foot is not wise,” said managing executive of the park, Glenn Phillips. “It holds many dangers and this incident is evidence of that.”
Kruger National Park has long had issues with poaching, as there remains a high demand for rhino horn in Asian countries, the report states.
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A group of men entered the Kruger National Park in South Africa on Monday to go poaching when an elephant suddenly attacked and killed one of themhttps://t.co/q7isoOgpq3
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) April 8, 2019
“It’s one of the most expensive wildlife products on the illegal market and that’s why these poachers go after it,” Michael Slattery, founder of the Texas Christian University Rhino Initiative, said on Sunday. “The current prices for a rhino horn are anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000 a kilogram. They are seeing dollar signs. It is more expensive than gold and cocaine, so the demand is driving these poachers.”
According to the New York Times:
South Africa is home to about 20,000 wild rhinos, more than 80 percent of the world’s population. Since 2008, more than 7,000 rhinos have been hunted illegally, with 1,028 killed in 2017.
Poachers drug the rhinos and then use a machete to “hack away at the face,” he said. The rhinos then bleed to death.
A rhino horn, which is made of 100 percent keratin, or the equivalent of compressed hair, provides no health benefits to humans.”
Rhino horn is worth about $9,000 per pound in Asia. It is also a vital ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine and owning a horn is considered a status symbol.
Phillips said it was sad to see the daughters of the dead man — who was not identified — “mourning the loss of their father, and worse still, only being able to recover very little of his remains.”
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