A suspected poacher is missing after authorities say he jumped into crocodile-infested waters to avoid getting arrest.
Authorities told Newsweek, the man entered Lake St Lucia on Friday, November 12, after exchanging gunshots with rangers working in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
Field rangers say the man was with a group of three other suspected poachers who fired at them when they were ordered to surrender. Rangers returned fire forcing the men to run in separate directions, including into the crocodile-infested waters of Lake St. Lucia.
“Field Rangers further observed blood in the water, which made them suspect that one poacher, probably the one with a gun, had been shot. He might have attempted to avert arrest by jumping into the water,” a joint statement from iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the South African government organization responsible for maintaining wildlife conservation areas said.
The lake is home to more than a 1000 deadly Nile crocodiles, which are an aggressive species responsible for hundreds of attacks every year.
The three other suspected poachers remain at large.