The discovery of seven butchered rhinos in a single day has shocked conservationists who are battling gangs of armed poachers in KwaZulu-Natal’s flagship Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife spokesman Musa Mntambi confirmed on Monday that seven rhinos were found poached and dehorned in the Makhamisa section of the park last Wednesday – all within about 800m of each other - although two appeared to have died about two weeks earlier.

Responding to criticism on why it had taken so long for two of the carcasses to be detected and whether this was an indictment of Ezemvelo’s ability to monitor and control poaching in the 96‚000 ha reserve‚ Mntambo said: “Our field rangers are highly skilled and use a number of strategies to detect dead animals‚ including observing vulture behaviour.