A group of poachers fleeing park rangers in South Africa ran into a herd of breeding elephants who trampled two of the three poachers, killing one and leaving the second missing, USA Today reports. The third poacher was caught by rangers and spared from the stomping.
The trio was apparently searching the Kruger National Park for rhinoceros, whose horns are highly valuable on the black market, when they were spotted by rangers who were using dogs and aircraft to find the poachers. Rangers found a bag that had an ax, food and water at the scene and recovered a rifle nearby. The captured poacher told authorities the missing poacher had suffered an eye injury and may have escaped.
“The campaign against poaching is the responsibility of all us; it threatens many livelihoods, destroys families and takes much-needed resources to fight crime which could be used for creating jobs and development,” Kruger National Park managing executive Gareth Coleman said in a release.