(CNN) Only a skull and a pair of trousers remained after a suspected rhino poacher was killed by an elephant and then eaten by lions in Kruger National Park, South African National Parks said.

The incident happened after the man entered the park Monday with four others to target rhinos, according to a parks service statement.

An elephant "suddenly" attacked the alleged poacher, killing him, and "his accomplices claimed to have carried his body to the road so that passersby could find it in the morning. They then vanished from the Park," police said.

His family were notified of his death late Tuesday by his fellow poachers, and a search party set out to recover the body. Rangers scoured on foot and police flew over the area, but because of failing light it could not be found.

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