White rhinos Bonnie and Clyde within the Schotia Private Game Reserve within the Eastern Cape.
- Rhinos Bonnie and Clyde have been killed by poachers final week.
- The pair survived a earlier assault by poachers 9 years in the past.
- The animals have been shot with high-powered rifles, killed and dehorned.
Two white rhinos, who survived a poaching assault 9 years in the past, have been killed on the Schotia Private Game Reserve within the Eastern Cape final week.
Field ranger Zane Hagemann confirmed that the pair – affectionately known as Bonnie and Clyde – have been found throughout a sport drive for friends on Thursday afternoon.
“They were attacked sometime between 22:00 on Wednesday, when they were last seen on a night drive, and 17:00 on Thursday when their carcasses were discovered, but most likely in the early hours of Thursday morning,” stated Hagemann.
He added that they’d been shot with high-powered rifles, killed and dehorned.
“It is a helluva blow to the reserve, to the area, industry and species. Even if we remove their horns, in this area rhinos are poached for whatever bit of horn is left.”
Two different rhino-poaching incidents have been believed to have occurred within the surrounding space in the identical week.
Hagemann declined to supply particulars of the opposite incidents however confirmed the incidents have been being investigated by the Eastern Cape anti-poaching unit and South African Police Service.
White rhinos Bonnie and Clyde within the Schotia Private Game Reserve within the Eastern Cape.
News24
“The poachers are very well organised. They will usually hit two or three reserves in a week and then leave the area for a while,” stated Hagemann.
Eastern Cape police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu couldn’t affirm any additional incidents within the space.
Reserve proprietor Jenny Bean stated her husband, Peter Bean, declined to talk as a result of “it had been too traumatic and heartbreaking”.
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Bonnie and Clyde survived a poaching assault 9 years in the past. Bonnie was pregnant then, however the rhino foetus was subsequently aborted. She had by no means had any offspring.
Schotia claims to be the oldest non-public sport reserve within the Eastern Cape of South Africa, bordering the jap facet of Addo Elephant National Park. It boasts 2 000 animals, together with free-roaming lions.
Environment Minister Barbara Creecy stated in a media assertion on Tuesday that 451 rhinos have been killed previously yr, three fewer than within the earlier yr.
Creecy stated white rhino killings within the Kruger National Park had declined by 40%.
