Only the head and shoes remained: in South Africa, lions devoured poachers hunting rhinos

In the South African Sibuya Nature Reserve near the town of Kenton-on-Sea, a group of poachers who entered the territory to hunt rhinos were killed by a pride of hungry lions. Judging by the bloody scene that the employees of the reserve stumbled upon, there were at least three hunters. A head and other bloody body parts were found, as well as three pairs of shoes.

In addition to human remains, workers found powerful hunting rifles with silencers, wire cutters and an axe that poachers use to chop off the horns of rhinos. While the search is underway for possible survivors of hunters or what is left of them.

The owner of the reserve, Nick Fox, said: "They came armed to the teeth with hunting rifles and axes, food supplies that would last for several days. So we assume they came to hunt rhinos."

"We are saddened that people died, even though they came to our land to kill animals. This once again became a warning for poachers that they may not always come out victorious."

Sibuya Nature Reserve is one of the most popular among tourists in the Eastern Cape Province. In addition to lions and rhinos, elephants, buffaloes and leopards live on the territory of the reserve. In 2016, poachers killed three rhinos and cut off their horns.

The remains of the hunters were found on the evening of July 3, but the workers had to wait for the sun to rise to continue exploring the nearby area. The police said that the identities of the victims have not yet been established, but their guns have been sent to the ballistics laboratory to check whether the weapons were involved in other cases of poaching.