By Jauhara Khan
The gruesome discovery of a “butchery” of hippopotamus meat and skin, a hippo foetus, and an arsenal of cable snares and hooks in the Zululand area has been called the worst case of hippo poaching yet uncovered in KwaZulu-Natal.
Police made the grisly find in a house on Wednesday during a poaching investigation in the Muzi Pans area outside the iSimangaliso Wetland Park in northern KZN, said Colonel Jay Naicker.
Bhekizizwe Zikhali, 30, was arrested in the vicinity of the house and appeared in court yesterday.
“The house, in the Mazibomvu area, was taken over by criminals after the legal owners died. The house was being used as a butchery and store by poachers,” said Naicker.
In the house police found 32 strips of hippo fat hanging over a plastic tub and four hippo snares made from steel cable.
Sjamboks
“There was also a crocodile snare with four heavy steel hooks on it. Fifteen cable snares, used for small animals, and 36 strips of hippo skin were also found in the room. These would be made into sjamboks.”
Outside the house, police found a hippo foetus that had been gutted and left to dry. Hippo meat hung from trees.
Zikhali led the police to his own house 400m away, where a hippo foot and five hippo skulls were found along with a .303 rifle and ammunition.
He was arrested on charges of illegal hunting, being in possession of animal products and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
Zikhali appeared in the Mbazwane Magistrate’s Court and was remanded for a bail hearing.
Andrew Zaloumis, CEO of the iSmangaliso Wetlands Park, said 25 hippos lived in the Muzi Pans area outside the park, making them vulnerable to poaching and possibly the main source of Zikhali’s stock.
“Poaching has been going on for a long time, but this is the most serious case uncovered in KZN.”
In a separate incident, two armed suspected poachers were shot by rangers on a routine patrol of the Kruger National Park yesterday. One died at the scene. The other is in hospital. - The Mercury