Hungry lion saves rhino, causes arrest of poacher

From Patrick Chitumba in Victoria Falls
July 28, 2010



A hungry lion attacked a group of poachers who were about to kill a rhino, resulting in their arrest and recovery of an AK 47 assault rifle, a fully charged magazine and 50 rounds of ammunition.
The officer commanding police in Victoria Falls district, Chief Superintendent Regis Munyaradzi, confirmed the arrest of five poachers, who included a Zambian.
“Yes, I confirm that five poachers, including a Zambian, were arrested at a hide-out in Mkhosana Township in Victoria Falls in the early hours of Monday after failing to poach a rhino for its horn as per their plan,” said Chief Supt Munyaradzi.
“We believe this could be a syndicate and investigations are under way and because of that, we are still withholding their names and the area they wanted to poach from.”
Chief Supt Munyaradzi said on Sunday night, the poachers descended on an area he declined to disclose, where they were sure of gunning down a rhino for its horn.
“Luck ran out on them when a lion approached them. In fear, they ran in different directions. As a result, the lion took after one of the poachers resulting in him climbing a tree while others fled and went back to their base,” he said.
Chief Supt Munyaradzi said the poacher who climbed the tree spent the night clinging to the branches so that he would not fall as the lion was waiting for him under the tree.
“The lion only walked away from the tree when there was daylight after which the poacher climbed down,” he said.
Chief Supt Munyaradzi said as the suspected poacher made his way out of the park, he was seen by rangers who were on patrol.
They then apprehended him.
“The poacher was brought to the police and he revealed that he was working with others,” said Chief Supt Munyaradzi.
He said the police then laid an ambush at a house in Mkhosana Township in the early hours of Monday, leading to the arrest of the four other poachers and the recovery of the rifle and ammunition.
“So we are tracing the origins of the rifle as part of investigations and they will appear in court soon,” said Chief Supt Munyaradzi.

lion poaching patrol

Can we train lions to do this???

Brett

Maybe the "tame" lions in South Africa could be trained to protect Rhinos from poachers. You wouldn't even have to feed them until you ran out of poachers.