Officials in South Africa announced that a court has handed down a 10-year prison sentence to a former park ranger for poaching.
Eckson Musa Matumbu was a field ranger at a section of Kruger National Park up until three years ago. Kruger is one of Africa’s largest game reserves and one of the largest national parks in South Africa.
Officials said Matumbu was arrested in early 2020 for killing a rhinoceros using the gun issued to him by the South African National Parks authority, SANParks. Matumbu used unofficial ammunition in an apparent attempt to hide the killing.
The Skukuza Regional Court handed down the sentence. Skukuza is the home of Kruger National Park Headquarters.
The 10-year prison term for Matumbu was announced last week. The sentence was handed down specifically for the crime of “carrying out a restricted activity involving a threatened or protected species in a national park,” SANParks said.
Oscar Mthimkhulu, managing executive of Kruger National Park, released a statement thanking the court for issuing the harsh sentence on the disgraced former park ranger.
“We are pleased with the sentence as it demonstrates that the law is not selective and deals with everybody who is involved in criminal activities,” Mthimkhulu said. “I hope our colleagues will learn from this case that, regardless of your position, the law will catch up with you.”
Hunting is authorized in Kruger National Park but it is tightly regulated, and endangered species like rhinos are fully protected there. The park is incredibly biodiverse, home to lions, leopards, elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, crocodiles, and far more.
It is not uncommon for park rangers in Africa to be heavily armed to protect endangered wildlife from poachers. It is rare to discover the rangers themselves becoming directly implicated in criminal wildlife poaching and trafficking.
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