[caption id="attachment_226915" align="aligncenter" width="630"] One of the dead rhino on the private game reserve near Komani
Picture: Supplied[/caption]
Two attacks in three weeks on Eastern Cape reserve leave total of five animals dead
In a blow for anti-poaching efforts in the Eastern Cape, five rhinos have been killed in two separate attacks on the same private game reserve in the past three weeks.
In the latest attack at the Wildschutsberg Game Reserve in the Stormberg mountain range near Komani (formerly Queenstown) at the weekend, three rhinos were shot.
The spate of poaching attacks has left reserve owner Greg Harvey outraged as its entire rhino population has been wiped out.
The latest incident saw poachers escape with minimal rhino horn as all the rhinos had been dehorned as a counterpoaching measure earlier this year, leaving only stumps of horn.It is suspected a syndicate targeted the reserve and were also responsible for poaching two rhinos on October 1.
The attack bears a striking similarity to another attack on the same reserve in 2014 when two white rhinos, both breeding bulls, were shot dead with high-powered hunting rifles 10 days apart.
So far this year, 11 rhinos have been poached in the Eastern Cape, while 19 were killed last year.
The police stock theft and endangered species unit has taken over the probe with the assistance of investigators from Environmental Affairs.
An angry Harvey said his entire rhino population had been wiped out in less than a month.
“It is just madness. I had five rhinos that were of breeding age and now they are gone in the blink of an eye,” he said
The first attack happened on October 1 when two bulls, about 10 years of age, were shot and killed in broad daylight.
[caption id="attachment_226983" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Picture: Supplied[/caption]
“It was a Sunday and the two rhinos were seen at about 11am. By 4pm, I got a panicked phone call from a person on the farm saying that it looks like there had been a poaching,” Harvey said.
“I launched the helicopter straight away and spotted both dead rhinos about 300m apart in the bush.
“Unfortunately, attempts to track and locate the poachers failed.”
Harvey said in the latest incident, three rhinos – two females, aged about eight and 15, and a four-year-old bull – had been shot on Sunday night.
“We found their carcasses on Monday morning after a staff member spotted one of the rhinos in the distance.”