Owners of a private farm were greeted by a gruesome sight on Thursday morning when they went outside to see their fence cut and three of their lions dead.
Two male lions and one female lion were killed in a suspected illegal poaching incident between Wednesday night and Thursday morning on a farm in Kroondal, near Rustenburg. The two male lions were mangled, with their faces, paws and tails cut off and taken. The female lion did not have parts taken.
Nazeer Cajee, a friend of the owners of the farm, said all the lions were around eight or nine years old. He said the hunters had apparently thrown poisoned chickens over the fence of the lion enclosure and the lions ate the chickens, causing them to hemorrhage and die. The hunters then cut the fence and entered, cutting off the male’s body parts. He added that he assumed the female’s body had not been mutilated because the poachers were disturbed by someone as they removed parts from the males.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Ofentse Mokgadi confirmed that a case of illegal hunting had been opened with the Rustenburg police.
“We suspect the lions were poisoned and we’re waiting for test results to confirm that,” Mokgadi said. He said that the police were investigating the motives and they “don’t want to assume” why the body parts were chopped off.
He added that it was the first time he had seen an incident like this in Rustenburg.
“We assume they’re using it (the body parts) for muti, for the witch doctors,” Cajee said. “We assume they’re using the bones or the teeth or whatever they took for the witch doctors.”
The farm is privately owned and has a permit for lions and other animals. Cajee said the camp has another eight lions and six tigers who are all unharmed.
Cajee said the family was “distraught,” and could not be reached for comment.
@LilaWReynolds