African Lions Eat Poachers

There was a recent news story that got my attention. The remains of two, perhaps three poachers were discovered on a South African Game Reserve. Apparently these three individuals were carrying a suppressed rifle to kill Rhinos and an axe to amputate their horns. While in the game reserve, the poachers encountered a pride of lions. Now, both lions and humans are apex predators but we humans rely on our ability to think and reason to be effective predators while large felines rely on their inherent stalking skills, size, strength and ferocity to be effective. In this encounter, the poachers lacked the ability to think and reason, why else would they be poachers? The lions killed and ate them. All that was found were bloodied gloves, shoes, and bony fragments of human skull and pelvis. These poachers learned the true meaning of life in the food chain.

I realize I may sound clinical and harsh but I feel this particular topic deserves it. The poaching of wild animals is a serious problem and it’s not going away. In Tanzania I saw the skulls of elephants that had been killed by poachers with automatic weapons. The front halves of these skulls were cut off with a chainsaw to remove the tusks. Chainsaws were also used to remove the lower legs of the elephants to be used as chairs and stools. Horrific. In India tiger poaching remains a major problem. One of the techniques used involves luring the tigers off the game reserves and onto local ranch land with the use of bait. When the tiger goes onto the ranch land, it is killed and poached for it’s body parts and skin. The list goes on and on. 

A large part of the poaching of wild animals has to do with the perceived magico-medicinal properties of body parts like the horn of a rhinoceros. Some cultures believe that consuming a rhinoceros horn will improve or cure fertility problems in men, or make them more manly and virile. While this might sound absurd to some people, others believe this to be profoundly true. Sadly, there is a lot of money to be made by poachers and the purveyors of these products. Other poached animal products like the skins of lions, tigers, leopards and cheetahs are simply for vanity. 

We share these lands with our fellow animal and plant species. In my opinion it is our responsibility to treat them with respect and compassion, to practice humane conservation and preserve their lives and habitat for the generations that will come after us.

If you want to learn more, the website Poaching Facts has a detailed breakdown of the poaching problem country by country and species by species.