A would-be poacher got what’s coming to him when a rhino he was trying to kill, severely injured him instead. The rhino turned the tables on the suspected poacher in Namibia, by charging and injuring them while he was allegedly tracking it. The man’s injuries eventually lead to his arrest.
Luteni Muharukua, was with another alleged poacher in Etosha National Park when the incident occurred, according to The Namibian newspaper.
Police said that the rhino inflicted a severe injury on Muharukua’s leg while allegedly illegally hunting it. The suspect fled to a nearby mountain and was hidden by friends but police tracked him down and arrested him a day later. Muharukua was being treated at a hospital under police guard.
An endangered black rhino. Photo: Wikimedia
In a related report by the paper a week later, it said that the other suspect was also injured in the rhino attack, but died moments after his arrest from suspected dehydration and his injuries.
The paper also shared an editorial cartoon captioning it “The Poacher, Poached!”
Rhino poaching has steadily increased in Namibia in recent years as the country has one of Africa’s biggest populations of the critically endangered black rhino. However, the environment minister Pohamba Shifeta shared a small piece of good news saying that fewer cases of poaching have been recorded so far this year, compared to the past several years. He said that 27 rhinos have been poached so far this year, compared to 60 in all of 2016 and 95 in 2015.
However, the demand for rhino horns continues to drive illegal poaching throughout Africa and the species is still critically endangered.
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