Two poachers have been sentenced to 16 years imprisonment each after both men were arrested in February 2021 by park rangers in the Kruger National Park.
Both men pleaded guilty in the Skukuza Regional Court in Mpumalanga on Friday 5 November and were sentenced to 16 years on charges of poaching and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
The three poachers were seen entering the park by crossing the border between South Africa and Mozambique. according to a report by News24.
‘Field rangers reported hearing a gunshot and subsequently made contact with three armed suspects. One suspect was wounded in the left hand, and a second suspect was arrested while the third managed to flee back into Mozambique,’ said police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala.
A hunting rifle and two fresh rhino horns were recovered during the arrest, with the horns linked to the poaching scene after DNA tests were conducted.
ALSO READ
The leader of the pack: a wildlife vet saving the ‘unsaveable’
