(ANSA-AFP) - JOHANNESBURG, APRIL 19 - A suspected poacher in South Africa was trampled to death by elephants over the weekend, as an official of the famous Kruger national park said today.
In their routine checks, the forest rangers spotted three poachers who came across a herd of elephants as they tried to escape.
Forest rangers later discovered a man "heavily trampled" who died from his wounds, according to Isaac Phaahla, spokesman for the South African National Parks (SANParks).
Another man was also attacked but managed to escape, while a third was arrested.
The guards found a rifle and an ax, said Paahla.
The poachers, part of an international trafficking organization, open fire on rhinos to cut off their horns, much in demand in Asia for its use in traditional medicine or as a supposed aphrodisiac.
South Africa, home to around 80 percent of the world's rhino population, is considered a poacher's paradise, with many killing concentrated in Kruger Park, although the phenomenon has been in decline for six years.
In 2020, the death toll of rhinos reached 394, a one-third decline on the previous year, according to government data.
Despite this, Phaahla told AFP that poachers' raids have not decreased and can reach 40 per day.
(ANSA-AFP).
