The carcasses of a rhino cow and her calf were found without their horns in the Kruger National Park on Tuesday morning.
|||The carcasses of a rhino cow and her calf were found without their horns in the Kruger National Park on Tuesday morning.
Kruger Park spokesman William Mabasa said people in a safari vehicle found them.
“Rangers and police were called to the scene and they confirmed that the cow and the calf were indeed killed by poachers. The investigation into the incident is continuing, and we are looking for the poachers.”
Earlier this month SA National Parks chief executive David Mabunda said 52 rhino had been poached in South Africa so far this year. The hardest hit areas continued to be the Kruger National Park and Limpopo province, with 26 and 13 rhinos poached there respectively, he said.
The two latest killings brought this number to 54.
Last Wednesday conservationist Ian Player said South Africa's rhino population had already reached a crucial tipping point, and was close to extinction due to the surge in poaching since 2008.
“The red warning flags are up and anything could happen,” he said. - Sapa