Is there anything more ironic than a poacher being killed by their targets? All over the world, poachers are illegally hunting animals - some endangered - for their fur, tusks, and meat. It has gotten so bad, a rare rhinoceros was poached in its cage at the zoo. And animals have had enough. Animals killing poachers is a sweet, sweet turn of revenge for the aniamls being attacked by poaching.
What is poaching? It's become even more of a problem in the recent past due to our rapidly growing technological advancements. Now, poachers don't simply have to sneak onto preserved land with weapons in tow, they can find exact whereabouts of their prey from the comfort of their own home. That's right, poachers are now hacking into systems used to keep track of and study the endangered species and their environments.
As long as there is poaching, there will be animals attacking poachers trying to save themselves. If you hate poaching, read about these poachers who got what they deserved.
This Poacher Was Probably Going After Rhinos Until Some Lions Came For Him
In 2018, an unidentified poacher was killed and nearly fully consumed by a pride of lions in the Ingwelala Private Nature Reserve, a private game reserve outside of Kruger National Park, South Africa. Though the body was nearly devoured by the time it was discovered by authorities, a loaded hunting rifle was discovered nearby and the area of the park has been popular with rhino poachers over the years. Rhino poaching is lucrative, but thankfully has been reportedly on the decline in South Africa since 2014.
In 2015, a group of five poachers had a brush with death in South Africa when the very animal they were illegally hunting hunted them.
One poacher, later identified as 24-year-old Matome Mahlale, was mauled to death by his game while his friend fled the scene. Three of the men were forced to climb a nearby tree, and miraculously, one escaped. Unfortunately, two dogs that the men had taken with them to assist in the hunt were killed, but the death and extreme fear caused by the lions seemed to be well deserved.
In October 2017, the tables against one poacher truly turned. In Namibia, a rhino decided he wasn't having it and injured his poacher when he least expected it.
Apparently, the poacher said the rhino came "out of nowhere." He was tracking the animal and all of a sudden he was being trampled by it. While he did eventually find refuge, his leg was severely injured. He was arrested and taken to a hospital where he stayed under guard by the police.
Due to the spike of ivory, many poachers are crawling out of the woodwork and infiltrating Africa's national parks in hopes of scoring some.
In 2013, two men in Zimbabwe attempted to poach an elephant to extract its ivory, but missed. Instead of a poached elephant they got a p*ssed off elephant. The elephant, exercising its revenge, chased after them, crushing one of the men to death. Later, park officials ordered the living man to take them to his friend's crushed body. They retrieved the corpse and arrested him.
The moral of the story: don't mess with a 12,000 pound animal.
In 2016, a group of men went out looking for elephants in Zimbabwe, but got lions - 20 of them. In the middle of tracking their prey, they looked up and were met with a whole pack of very angry cats. Apparently, they were attacked almost immediately, and five of them were abruptly slaughtered. Three men made it out with injuries ranging from minor to severe. They fled to a nearby village to treat their wounds and were arrested.
Those lions weren't putting up with poachers on their land.
They thought they were going to poach them, but little did they know, these animals had other plans. In Kruger National Park, all that remains of a group of poachers is a bare skull and some shreds of one man's clothes.
After sneaking into the park in 2010 to check on some traps they had set up, a group of very angry rhinos charged the poachers, causing them to all run off in different directions. Two of them made it out with their lives, however, one unlucky man was first trampled and then eaten to death by a pack of lions.
