In another gruesome rhino attack, poachers struck yesterday at a game farm in the Jeffreys Bay area where they killed and dehorned two rhinos and wounded a third.
Police spokeswoman Captain Gerda Swart confirmed the attack, but gave very few details, referring all queries to Johan Lottering, owner of the Lombardini Game Farm between Jeffreys Bay and Humansdorp.
Lottering confirmed the incident, saying he had just returned from an overseas trip when he received a call about the animals’ deaths.
He said two rhinos had been shot and dehorned, while a third had been wounded and was receiving treatment.
Lottering said last night that the third rhino was expected to make a full recovery. In April 2015, a rhino cow and her calf were killed on the same game farm.
Lottering said the poachers had gone through the perimeter of the 1 300ha reserve but could not pinpoint how they accessed the property.
The first attack, he said at the time, had taken place on a Wednesday night in conditions that included rain, wind and a full moon.
Similar conditions prevailed on Tuesday night, with heavy mist in the early hours of yesterday.
The 2015 attack was the first time that poachers had struck west of Nelson Mandela Bay and came despite Lombardini’s efforts to implement a dehorning programme to reduce the risks of poaching.
-HeraldLIVE
