At least three poachers were gunned down in the Kruger National Park, apparently the best chain store for rhino horn.
The Boston Globe reports more than 1,000 rhinos have been killed this year in South Africa, two-thirds of them in Kruger National Park, according to government figures. But at least now game rangers are getting their own back as three poachers were shot and killed during an escalation of armed incursions into South Africa from across the border with Mozambique. The three were killed in a shootout on Monday and two separate firefights on Thursday last week. Three more were wounded and arrested in another confrontation on Wednesday.
‘‘There is definitely an increase compared to previous months in the number of poachers coming into the Kruger National Park,’’ Paul Daphne, a parks spokesman, said Saturday. ‘‘It’s not unusual for this time of year.’’
Some 164 suspected poachers have been arrested in Kruger Park in 2014, about 30 more than last year, according to the government. More are arrested outside the park’s boundaries
