- A white rhino and its two calves were shot dead and dehorned over the weekend at the privately-owned Lalibela Game Reserve.
- The carcasses were spotted during a routine fence check on Saturday.
- The incident comes shortly after two other rhinos were shot dead in Schotia Safaris Private Game Reserve near Paterson.
The carcasses of three rhinos, each with their horns hacked off, were discovered at the Lalibela Game Reserve, near Makhanda, over the weekend.
A dead white rhino and two calves were spotted during a routine fence check on Saturday, the first incident in over 2 300 days of monitoring, said Lalibela general manager Robert Cradwell.
The animals had all been shot dead.
Rhino poaching saw a sharp decrease during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Words cannot come close to describing the outrage one feels. This magnificent animal with her two daughters, butchered, for what?" fumed Cradwell.
The police are investigating a case of illegal hunting of a protected animal without a permit.
The incident comes hot on the heels of another rhino pair. Bonnie and Clyde were killed by poachers on 4 February at the Schotia Safaris Private Game Reserve near Paterson, the reserve announced on its Facebook page.
"Their lives ended for their horns. Bonnie and Clyde were survivors of a past poaching incident in 2012, however, this poaching incident would turn out differently," it said in the post.
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The game reserve added that Bonnie and Clyde were shot dead with a high calibre gun and that their horns had been hacked off.
Two months ago, trackers and rangers at the Eastern Cape government-owned Great Fish River Nature Reserve also discovered the carcasses of two rhinos which were shot dead before being dehorned.
Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism MEC Mlungisi Mvoko pleaded with the public and communities adjacent to nature reserves to work with authorities, and to maintain vigilance.
"We have a shared responsibility to protect our wildlife and to help the authorities dismantle these criminal networks. We also urge the Eastern Cape community at large to continue the '‘Not in our Province' awareness campaign, which saw massive mobilisation of the conservation sector against this heinous crime," said Mvoko.
Members of the public have been encouraged to assist with any information that could lead to the arrest and prosecution of poachers by calling 10111, or the environmental crime hotline on 0800 205 005.
The police are urging anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the suspect(s) to contact SAPS provincial wildlife coordinator Captain Morne Viljoen on 082 319 9216 or Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
All information will be treated as confidential and callers may remain anonymous.