Lions eat suspected rhino poachers on South African game reserve

An axe and three pairs of shoes and gloves were found at the Sibuya Game Reserve after the reported attack.

A lion is pictured at Kruger National Park in South Africa. Source: Universal Images Group Editorial

At least two rhino poachers were eaten by lions on a South African game reserve, the owner of the lodge says.

A ranger taking guests at the Sibuya Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape on a safari drive on Tuesday afternoon discovered human remains close to a pride of lions.

"We suspect two were killed, possibly three," Sibuya owner Nick Fox said on Thursday.

An axe and three pairs of shoes and gloves were found later when police and an anti-poaching unit arrived. The lions had been heard making a commotion in the early hours of Monday.

"We thought they must have been rhino poachers but the axe confirmed it," Fox said. "They use the rifle to shoot the animal and the axe to remove the horn."

South Africa is home to more than 80 per cent of the world's rhinos, whose population has been depleted by poaching for buyers in Vietnam and China where rhino horn is coveted as an ingredient in traditional medicine.

More than 1000 rhinos were killed in South Africa last year.