LIONS EAT POACHER
Only head and rifle found after night-time attack in game park
A SUSPECTED poacher has been eaten alive by a pride of lions on a game reserve.
The alarm was raised when his screams were heard but by the time the big cats were chased off all that was left was his head.
The man, attacked at night, was carrying no documents and a hunting rifle was found nearby.
Police in Limpopo, South Africa, said “The process of iden- tifying this body has commenced and it might be made easier as his head was among the remains found at the scene.”
A worker at the Ingwelala Private Nature Reserve in Hoedspruit, said: “A scream was heard. The lions were scattered by the sound of gunshots but it was too late to do anything for him. He was eaten.”
Wildlife photographer Charlie Lynham, 59, from Liverpool but now based near the reserve, arrived shortly after the alarm. He said: “Two .456 big game rifles and ammunition were found.
“That is the weapon of choice used by those hunting big game.
“If you go out walking in the bush in the dark then I am afraid you are fair game.”
Lion skeletons fetch up to €8,000 and the skin €3,400 in the Far East. They kill up to 250 people a year in Africa. Lions are hunted