According to Knopp the lions attacked the rhino and started feeding before killing it.

Kruger Park Bookings contacted Traveller24 to share the video posted to YouTube, saying Knopp came across this kill scene on 26 April 2016 while on safari in Kruger National Park. The sighting took place while on an early morning safari drive with Wildlife Safaris. Knopp were staying in Skukuza and had heard from a staff member that there were a few lions around.

"When we arrived, the lion was busy trying to kill the rhino. We were told that 10 minutes prior, the lion had jumped on the back of the rhino. He continued for about 20 minutes and just as we were about to leave, the male lion rested and his lady lion and their cub came into the picture. The lioness continued trying to kill the rhino, with the cub playing around in the background."

While the exact location of the rhino kill was not made clear or what had happened to its rhino horn - the fight to save these animals from poachers continues in South Africa.

William Mabasa, Acting Head of Communications for SANParks told Traveller24,"I have no information on this incident, but the fact that it happens to be closer to the tourist road, chances are that Rangers would have been alerted and they would have removed the horns."

SA has just rejected a proposal to legalize trade in rhino horn to the 17th Conference of the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to be hosted in Johannesburg in September.

Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, says since the end of 2015 “rhino poaching figures has relatively stabilized, thanks to the hard work done by all involved, particularly the rangers.

The department has outlined five minimum requirements to be implemented in the next year to create an environment conducive for rhino conservation in South Africa, and effectively address rhino poaching and the illegal trade in rhino horn:

• The adoption and implementation of the National Integrated Strategy to Combat Wildlife Trafficking

• Community empowerment, including the development, adoption and implementation of a Community Empowerment Plan

• Biological management, including the adoption of an African rhino range States African Rhino Conservation Action Plan

• Responsive legislative provisions that are effectively implemented and enforced, including incentives to rhino owners to support continued investment in the conservation of rhino

• Demand management, including information gathering to enhance our knowledge about demand for rhino horn and identifying the most effective interventions to manage demand.

From: Traveller24

By: Selene Brophy