CAPE TOWN - Four rhinos, one a pregnant female, were found poached and killed at the Inverdoorn Private Game Reserve, just outside of Cape Town on Wednesday night, leaving staff traumatised.
At around 10.30pm, the 24 hour Anti-Poaching Unit raised the alarm after making the horrific discovery while on their routine patrols.
The initial scene assessment found that two rhinos had already succumbed to their injuries, while the remaining two, although still alive, were heavily injured.
"The team acted fast as a fifth rhino was missing and tracking operations were immediately activated on the 10 000 hectare private game reserve while the management, conservation teams, wildlife veterinarians, law enforcement and others were notified and dispatched to the scene," the reserve said.
According to management, one of the killed females was pregnant.
"At approximately 2am the team got eyes on the fifth injured female rhino. She was shot in the face, painfully injured but still alive."
Owner of Aquila Collection, Searl Derman said that he was “horrified to relive this nightmare".
"As with our previous poaching incident at Aquila Private Game Reserve in 2011, we will again commit to sparing no expense or effort in the pursuit to catch and bring justice to these vicious perpetrators who massacred our rhino.
“We are starting by offering a R100 000 reward for confidential information that will lead to the successful arrest of the criminals that brought much heartache and loss to the staff and management of this unique Western Cape private game reserve,” Derman said.
Cape Times