Limpopo police have launched a manhunt after five lions were killed on a farm in the Northam area.

Preliminary investigations suggested the lions might have been fed poison-laced chicken by the suspects who gained entry onto the farm by cutting a fence, according to police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo.

“The lions were discovered on Wednesday at about 08:00. Some of them were found decapitated, and some had their paws cut off and teeth removed,”Mojapelo said in a statement on Thursday.

The provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Neke Ledwaba, condemned the killing and decapitation of the protected species.

A team of investigators was immediately appointed to track down the suspects.

“As the provincial stock theft awareness and anti-poaching campaigns are unfolding, these poachers must [be] stopped in their tracks and brought to book,” Ledwaba said.

This article was first published by News 24 on 21 November 2019.

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