Outrage after rhino and two calves killed, dehorned in private Eastern Cape game reserve

A white rhinoceros and its two calves were shot dead and dehorned at Lalibela Game Reserve. (Getty Images)

• A white rhinoceros and its two calves were shot and killed and dehorned at the weekend on privately owned Lalibela Game Reserve.
• The carcasses were discovered during a routine fence check on Saturday.
• The incident comes shortly after two other rhinos were shot dead at Schotia Safaris Private Game Reserve near Paterson.

The carcasses of three rhinos, each with their horns chopped off, were discovered at Lalibela Game Reserve, near Makhanda, over the weekend.

A dead white rhino and two calves were discovered during a routine fence check on Saturday, the first incident in more than 2,300 days of monitoring, Lalibela general manager Robert Cradwell said.

The animals had all been shot and killed.

Rhino poaching saw a sharp decline during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Words cannot come close to describing the outrage felt. This magnificent animal with her two daughters, slaughtered, for what?” snapped Cradwell.

The police are investigating a case of illegal hunting of a protected animal without a permit.

The incident comes hot on the heels of another rhino pair. Bonnie and Clyde were killed by poachers on February 4 at Schotia Safaris Private Game Reserve near Paterson, the reserve announced on its Facebook page.

“Their lives ended for their horns. Bonnie and Clyde were survivors of a previous poaching incident in 2012, but this poaching incident would prove different,” the post reads.

READ | Eastern Cape rangers honored for fighting rhino poaching

The game reserve added that Bonnie and Clyde were shot and killed with a high-caliber handgun and that their horns were chopped off.

Two months ago, trackers and rangers at the Eastern Cape government-owned Great Fish River Nature Reserve also discovered the carcasses of two rhinos that had been shot and killed before being dehorned.

MEC Mlungisi Mvoko for Economic Development, Environment and Tourism called on the public and communities at the nature reserves to cooperate with the authorities and maintain vigilance.

“We have a shared responsibility to protect our wildlife and help the authorities dismantle these criminal networks. We also encourage the community in the Eastern Cape to continue the awareness campaign ‘Not in our Province’, which led to massive mobilization of the conservation sector against this heinous crime,” Mvoko said.

Members of the public have been urged to help with any information that could lead to the arrest and prosecution of poachers by calling 10111, or the Environmental Crime Hotline on 0800 205 005.

Police are urging anyone with information that could lead to the apprehension of the suspect(s) to contact SAPS Provincial Wildlife Coordinator Captain Morne Viljoen on 082 319 9216 or Crime Stop on 08600 10111.

All information will be treated confidentially and callers may remain anonymous.