At least three suspected poachers have been mauled to death and eaten by lions after breaking into a wildlife reserve in South Africa.

The men entered the Sibuya Game Reserve on the southeast coast armed with a rifle with a silencer, wire cutters and an axe, and had food supplies "for a number of days", said reserve owner Nick Fox.

He said they bore "all the hallmarks of a gang intent on killing rhino and removing their horns".

The men broke in in the early hours of Monday and their remains were found the following day.

Mr Fox said one of the reserve's anti-poaching dogs had alerted her handler that something was amiss.


The handler heard a loud commotion coming from the lions but this is not uncommon, Mr Fox said.

As it was still dark, they investigated after sunrise.

Mr Fox said it was not clear exactly how many of the men there were, as there was "not much left of them".

"Clearly, the poachers had walked into a pride of six lions and some, if not all had been killed," he said.

The reserve is still open to guests.

The South African government estimates 1,028 rhinos were illegally killed in 2017.