South Africa: Rhino Poachers Sentenced to Long Prison Terms
Three poachers from Mozambique were caught in Kruger National Park. They received prison sentences of between 22 and 33 years.
22 to 33 Years in Prison
On Tuesday, 17 January 2023, the Skukuza Regional Court convicted three recreational hunters of poaching and sentenced them to lengthy prison terms.
The men from Mozambique were sentenced to prison terms of between 22 and 33 years for poaching in Kruger National Park and, among other offences, killing a black rhinoceros.
Lawrence Makamu (28), George Miyanga (48) and Nulo Burro (31) were convicted of trespassing, violation of immigration law, possession of a firearm, conspiracy to engage in illegal poaching, killing a black rhinoceros, killing a white rhinoceros on two separate occasions, possession of ammunition, and possession of two hunting knives.
Rangers found six fresh rhino horns
On 30 June, the three men illegally entered the park in the Malelane section and killed a black rhinoceros. When rangers heard gunshots and searched for the suspects by helicopter, they found two further white rhinoceroses that had been killed.
The suspects were hiding with six fresh rhino horns, firearms, two hunting knives and four live cartridges. The court took into account in its sentencing that a black rhinoceros had also been killed, a species classified as critically endangered. More on the topic of species conservation and wildlife.
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More on the subject of recreational hunting: In the dossier Poaching and hunting crime in Switzerland we document cases, legal questions and recurring patterns. The scientific evidence is presented in the overview Studies on the Effects of Recreational Hunting.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
