Lions devour two hunters attempting to hunt rhinos illegally in South Africa

At least two illegal rhinoceros hunters were devoured this week by a herd of lions inside a nature reserve in South Africa, officials said.

Rangers discovered the remains of at least two, perhaps three people in the lions area in Sibuya Reserve, near the town of Kenton, in the southwestern part of the country.

Next to the remains was a high-powered rifle and an ax.

• The brutal trafficking of animal horns that are worth more than gold

In recent years, there has been an increase in illegal hunting to meet the demand for rhinoceros horn in some regions of Asia.

In China, Vietnam, and other countries in the region, it is believed that rhinoceros horn has aphrodisiac qualities.

Nick Fox, the owner of the Sibuya Reserve, said in a statement that alleged illegal hunters entered the reserve Sunday afternoon or early Monday morning.

"They met a pack of lions, which was very large, so they did not have much time to escape ," says Fox.

"We do not know exactly how many hunters they were there were a lot of remains," he added.

The remains were found Tuesday afternoon.

Immediately, a team that fights illegal hunting in the reserve arrived at the place where they found the rifle and ax, which are the tools that these people usually use to sacrifice rhinos and s [19659021] horn s .

• The disturbing image of a mutilated rhinoceros who won one of nature's most prestigious awards

Tranquilizers were to be used on many lions to recover the remains, park administrators have indicated.

Police continue to patrol the area to see if any of the other suspected hunters managed to survive.

Nine rhinos have been slaughtered by illegal hunters in the Eastern Cape Province, where the reserve is located, until now in 2018.

More than 7,000 rhinos were slaughtered in Africa South only in the past 10 years.

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