White rhinos poached in the Free State

Two white rhino were illegally shot and their horns removed in a Free State reserve, provincial environmental spokesman Kgotso Tau says.

The carcasses of an adult pregnant cow and another younger cow were found at the Sandveld nature reserve near Bloemhof on Monday morning.

Tau said it seemed the rhino were killed during Sunday night.

Various tracks were found in the vicinity and it was suspected that the poachers were in the reserve on foot.

“We were lucky that poachers had not been active in the province until now,” said Tau.

He said rhino guards were deployed in all Free State reserves.

The incident was the second rhino poaching incident, to remove horns illegally, in the Free State this year.

Another adult rhino cow was illegally shot at the Willem Pretorius reserve near Ventersburg in February this year.

A total of 309 rhino had been poached in South Africa this year, the national department of environmental affairs said earlier.