Kruger Park Field Guide Allegedly Turned Poacher Re-Captured

Observer comments ... The Rhino population in the Kruger National park has made remarkable recoveries from a situation not too long ago when the Black Rhino was severely threatened and the White Rhino population in the Kruger had dropped to very small numbers. The success of Kruger Park rangers in protecting the park's animals against poachers ahs been remarkable and it is all the more sad when one of them becomes involved in the actual poaching itself.

Sipho Mokgalaka, one of the two Kruger National Park (KNP) field guides, arrested for allegedly poaching rhino in the park, is under police guard at Kabokweni Hospital.

Mokgalaka escaped from Skukuza prison on May 26. Apparently he tried to encourage fellow field guide Lucky Khoza to join in the jail break, but Khoza opted to stay in jail. Four other inmates escaped with Mokgalaka at the time.

It appears Mokgalaka was hiding in the Phalaborwa and Namakgale area where members from the Sanparks corporate investigative services (CIS) eventually found him.

The CIS team spotted him on the morning of July 13, 2006 as he was leaving a house in Namakgale. When he was confronted he recognised one of the investigating officers and ran away.

“Attempts to catch up with him failed, and he was wounded by one of the police officers who assisted with the arrest,” said Frik Rossouw, of CIS.

The paramedics were called in and after Mokgalaka was stabilised he was talen to the Maputa Malatji Hospital, where he remained until Friday, July, 14 when he was transferred to Kabokweni Hospital.

“Mokgalaka will be charged with illegal hunting of a rhino in the KNP as well as escape from custody as soon as he is fit to stand trial,” says Rossouw.