Poacher trampled to death by herd of elephants while lining up shot on white rhino

A poacher was crushed to death by a herd of elephants at South Africa's Kruger National Park just as he was preparing to fire at a white rhino, it has been revealed.

The man and an accomplice had entered the iconic reserve armed with a high-powered rifle and an axe, intent on killing the animal for its valuable horn.

However, the pair were unaware that a family of African elephants had gathered alongside the rhino herd at a nearby watering hole, seeking respite from the intense midday sun.

When the elephants burst from the surrounding bush and charged, the two men scattered in opposite directions.

The would-be shooter was too slow to escape and was fatally trampled, while his partner managed to flee but was subsequently apprehended by authorities.

A source at Kruger National Park described the brutal scene: "The two ran in different directions but the one lining up the shot was the slowest to his feet and the elephants went for him first."

The aftermath left little to recover. "He was quickly overrun and the elephants trampled him into the earth and all that we found was basically a very large blood stain around the clothing he was in," the source said.

The surviving poacher initially got away, but his freedom proved short-lived. "The other poacher made it to safety but has since been arrested. We were alerted to the incident and followed the suspect back to where the incident happened," the source added.

"The report came in that there was not much left but a big blood stain in the earth and his clothes."

The initial alert was raised at the Pafuri Ranger Lodge, prompting rangers to trek 6km into the bush before locating the remains near a rhino herd.

The park source described such incidents as a "big boost" and said it was rewarding when the "nellies" gave them help in the fight against poaching.

Online reaction to the poacher's fate was overwhelmingly unsympathetic.

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One Facebook user declared: "The elephants are the gatekeepers! I wish the hyenas got to them after they did."

Another commented: "Elephants have done justice for the targeted rhinos! Big ups to the elephant family for helping the game rangers do their job out there."

Kruger National Park, which is comparable in size to Wales, is home to approximately 1,850 white rhinos and the rest of the celebrated Big Five — elephants, buffalo, lions and leopards.

The financial incentive driving poachers to risk their lives is considerable. A single white rhino horn fetches roughly £10,000 on the black market, making it more valuable by weight than either gold or cocaine.

The horn itself is composed of keratin — the same protein found in human fingernails — yet it commands extraordinary prices due to its status in eastern medicine, where it is ground down and marketed in potions as supposed miracle remedies.

This was far from the first occasion on which Africa's wildlife has turned the tables on those seeking to exploit it. In 2018, three men armed with guns and an axe infiltrated the Sibuya Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape, targeting white rhinos. A pride of lions attacked and killed all three, leaving behind only empty shoes, firearms and scattered remains. Their heads were never recovered.

A year later at Kruger itself, three poachers running from park rangers encountered a herd of elephants close to the rhinos they had been pursuing. One was trampled to death and subsequently consumed by lions, though the other two eventually evaded the animals only to be tracked down and caught.

The true number of poachers killed annually by wildlife across Africa remains unknown, as survivors are unlikely to report such encounters for fear of incriminating themselves.

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