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Thursday, 15 September 2011 02:00 |
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Isdore Guvamombe Features Editor THREE suspected rhino poachers were shot and killed by game rangers in the Chipangayi Safari Area near Chiredzi on Tuesday
morning. Two others were arrested and their vehicle impounded, while a third suspect escaped the net in a Toyota Corolla.
Rangers, acting on a tip off, waylaid the suspected poachers - Sakhile Ncube, Nicholas Tswami and Million Chauke, all from Beitbridge - and killed them in the pre-dawn ambush after exchanging gunfire. The National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority has since recovered a 306 rifle fitted with a silencer, 18 live rounds of ammunition, two knives, two cellphones and two bags used by the poachers.
Parks public relations manager Ms Caroline Washaya-Moyo yesterday said the poachers had been under surveillance after being sold out by a once-duped colleague. "Information was received by officers based at Buffalo Range Airport, working with a reliable informer that an organised armed poaching group wanted to enter Chipangayi Safari area for the purposes of poaching rhinos," said Ms Washaya-Moyo.
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