Head and limbs of hobby hunters found

The gruesome remains of three hobby hunters were found together with their rifles and an axe they had intended to use to hack off the rhinos' horns.

For animal welfare advocates, those who kill majestic wildlife for sport, pleasure, or profit are the enemy par excellence.

So when a well-known trophy hunter or poacher meets a bloody end, their opponents are unlikely to shed any tears.

That was the case this week when Riaan Naude, a notorious trophy hunter who killed countless lions, elephants, giraffes, and other wild animals, was shot dead in South Africa.

His death was announced on Twitter by the group XposeTrophyKilling with an image showing the 55-year-old owner of Pro Hunt Africa proudly posing with a dead lion.

One person wrote: «Hunter hunted. I am not happy, but animals should not be anyone's trophy«, while another added: «When I look at this picture, I cannot feel sorry for him.»

But while Naude probably died quickly, that was not the case for three poachers who met a particularly gruesome end.

A severed human head, torn-off limbs, and three pairs of empty shoes were all that remained of the three men when they were discovered.

The gang had broken into the Sibuya Game Reserve in South Africa, apparently with the intention of slaughtering a herd of rhinos for their horns.

Armed with rifles and an axe, they had everything they needed to kill the animals and cut off their horns to sell on the black market.

They also had enough food to sustain themselves for several days.

What they had not counted on, however, was the pride of protective lions that were tasked with guarding the park.

Following the incident, Nick Fox, the owner of the reserve, said that the poachers were heavily armed and well-supplied, «so that we suspect they had targeted all of our rhinos here«.

He added: «But the lions are our guardians and protectors, and they chose the wrong pride and became a meal.»

«We are saddened by the loss of human life, but the poachers came here to kill our animals, and this is a clear message to all other poachers that you will not always be the victor.»

The incident made headlines around the world. Many felt this was karma for the rhinos, who continue to be brutally killed all over the world.

Rhino poachers hack off the horn with a machete and leave the animals to bleed to death. Their horns are ground up and used in Asian medicine or sold on the black market, despite having no proven health benefits.

According to the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, a total of 451 rhinos were poached in 2021 – 327 in state reserves and 124 on private land.

In just the first two weeks of December 2021 alone, poachers killed 24 rhinos, after the number of killings had slightly declined during the pandemic.

And it was not the first time that nature had fought back against those who seek to oppress it.

In May 2018, trophy hunter Claude Kleynhans was fatally injured by a buffalo near the Levubu River in South Africa.

He was loading a buffalo carcass onto his vehicle when another animal ambushed him, tearing his femoral artery and sending the 54-year-old to an early grave.

Earlier that year, a big cat poacher was killed in the private Ingwelala Nature Reserve when he was attacked and eaten by the pride he had been trying to hunt.

He cried out, but by the time help arrived, the lions had killed and consumed most of the man – only his head remained intact.

A rhino poacher in Namibia was lucky to escape when he was attacked in 2017 by a rhino he was pursuing. The poacher suffered a serious injury to his leg.

In 2019, a poacher in Kruger National Park in South Africa was trampled to death by an elephant and his remains were devoured by lions. A search team found only a human skull and a pair of trousers.

In October 2021, another crushed and mutilated human body was found in the same reserve. It was believed that an elephant had trampled a poacher to death as the animal tried to buy its herd time to escape.