Earlier this week, it was reported that a suspected poacher was trampled to death by an elephant, before his body was eaten by a pride of lions. According to a report from the Letaba Herald, the unnamed man was one of a group of poachers who had broken into the South African nature reserve.

Officials at Kruger National Park claimed that an elephant was alarmed by the man's presence, so charged right at him. His remains were discovered the following day (April 4) in the Crocodile Bridge section of the reserve by a search party, after his family were told of his death by others involved.

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Glenn Phillips, managing executive of Kruger National Park said in a statement:

"Entering Kruger National Park illegally and on foot is not wise, it holds many dangers and this incident is evidence of that. It is very sad to see the daughters of the deceased mourning the loss of their father, and worse still, only being able to recover very little of his remains."

It is thought that there were four poachers on the scene, allegedly after a rhino in the reserve, with three of them fleeing the scene after this poacher was killed. After he was killed, the three men carried his body to the road, before the pride found him.

"Once outside, they reportedly informed a relative of the dead man about their ordeal and police were alerted regarding the incident," said Brigadier Leonard Hlathi.

"Subsequent to that, police launched a joint intelligence driven operation in search of the dead poacher's accomplices, resulting in the arrest of three men aged between 26 and 35, within KaMhlushwa and Komatipoort precincts."

The remains were few, but now photos have been obtained by South African news site the Daily Sun. "Indications found at the scene suggested that a pride of lions had devoured the remains leaving only a human skull and a pair of pants," a statement from the South African Police Service read.

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Police also seized weaponry and ammunition from the poachers. The three suspects in the case appeared at the Komatipoort Magistrate's Court on Friday, where they faced charges of possession of firearms and ammunition without a license, as well as conspiracy to poach and trespassing.

They are all due to appear in court for a second time on April 12.

A suspected rhino poacher was trampled to death by an elephant and his body was eaten by a pride of lions, officials at Kruger National Park are saying.

According to a report from the Letaba Herald, the unnamed father was one of the hunters in a group of poachers who, on Wednesday, 3 April, had broken into the largest reserve in South Africa.

The elephant who killed the poacher was reportedly alarmed by the man's presence and so charged straight at him.

Several lions then mauled the man's dead body and his remains were discovered the following day (Thursday, 4 April) in the Crocodile Bridge section, far into the reserve.

The deceased's family were contacted by other members of the group to inform them about the fatality.

Don English, the park’s regional ranger, reportedly set up a search party to find the man's remains.

Unfortunately, "very little of his remains" were able to be recovered by the Kruger National Park Rangers.

Glenn Phillips, managing executive of Kruger National Park said:

"Entering Kruger National Park illegally and on foot is not wise, it holds many dangers and this incident is evidence of that. It is very sad to see the daughters of the deceased mourning the loss of their father, and worse still, only being able to recover very little of his remains."

It is believed, based on evidence from the scene of the attack, that the lions had left little more than a human skull and a pair of pants, the Independent reports.

Don English is aiding the police in the ongoing investigation.

In total, four alleged accomplices of the deceased, who had young daughters, were arrested by the police and will appear in court "in due course", according to the park's spokesperson.

You won't find many people in the world more despised than animal poachers, who often sneak into animal reserves, attacking unsuspecting (and often endangered) creatures to sell their parts for money.

In March this year, a Russian trophy hunter made the news after shooting a large bull elephant dead in Zimbabwe. The event was captured in a painting by Jim Carrey shortly afterwards, depicting an elephant goring poachers - along with the hashtag #teamelephant.

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Martin Pieters, the ex-chairman of the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association, was joined by an unnamed Russian hunter on what was technically a legal expedition. However, not all expeditions like this are legal - with various groups conducting raids on nature reserves in the dead of night to avoid detection.

On Tuesday, a group of such poachers broke into The Sibuya Game Reserve near Kenton-on-Sea, in South Africa. The men were hunting for rhinos, hoping to take their horns and sell the ivory, but were attacked by a pride of lions.

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Staff found hunting rifles with silencers, wire cutters, and an axe used for removing rhino horns. A veterinarian was required to tranquillise six lions so that the police could recover the remains, which included a head and other body parts, along with three pairs of shoes. Nick Fox, the 60-year-old owner of the reserve, said:

"We found enough body parts and three pairs of empty shoes which suggest to us that the lions ate at least three of them but it is thick bush and there could be more.

"They came heavily armed with hunting rifles and axes which we have recovered and enough food to last them for several days so we suspect they were after all of our rhinos here.

"They were clearly intent on killing rhinos and cutting off their horns.

"But the lions are our watchers and guardians and they picked the wrong pride and became a meal.

"Whilst we are saddened at any loss of life the poachers came here to kill our animals and this sends out a very clear message to any other poachers that you will not always be the winner."

Police spokeswoman Captain Mali Govender confirmed that the remains had been found in the lion camp and explained how detectives are currently trying to figure out exactly how many have been injured at this time, as it may be more than the three found so far.

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"We do not know identities but firearms have been taken by the police and will be sent to the ballistics laboratory to see if they have been used in poaching before," she said.

The game reserve is apparently very popular, and covers 30 square miles of land, featuring elephants, buffalo and leopards, along with the rhinos and lions. In 2016, they lost three rhinos when poachers came into the park, shot them dead and cut off their horns - now it seems there has been some karmic justice.

Earlier this week, video footage showing a man being mauled by a lion went viral.

The man in the clip has subsequently been identified as Pieter Nortje, a 55-year-old tourist who was visiting the Tikwe River Lodge in Virgina, Free State Province, in South Africa. He was there with his wife, who witnessed the attack.

During their visit to the wildlife park, the pair were given a tour of the lion enclosure, but were at no point told that they could touch the lions. In fact, despite multiple warnings to the contrary, Nortje reached through the fence to pet two lions.

The first did not react aggressively, but the second responded by biting him and yanking at his arm.

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During the attack, Nortje's wife can be heard saying, "It's biting him, it's biting him!"

This came just after Nortje himself said: "If you bite me, then I’m going to bite you back."

After the incident happened, the tourist was rushed to hospital. He was suffering from septic shock - a potentially fatal condition caused by severe infection which requires immediate medical intervention. The survival rate can be anywhere between 25 and 50 per cent, so Nortje is lucky to be alive.

The company behind the tour has denied any responsibility, saying: "There are warning signs everywhere. Mr. Nortje stuck his hand through the electric fence to touch the lions and was bitten."

"The man was lucky that the lioness was probably not hungry or not used to killing live prey outside in the wild," said a South African game ranger who saw the video.

"Lions are pack animals and hunt as a team so others in the enclosure could easily have joined in and if they had done killed him whether there was a fence between them or not. Some people never learn that where wild animals are concerned keep a distance between them and you."

Nortje is still recovering from his injuries. It is not clear what action - if any - was taken against the lion.

This weekend, an intern was attacked and killed by a lion at The Conservators Center, a zoo in North Carolina. The victim, 22-year-old Alexandra Black, had only been working at the zoo for two weeks, and was fatally mauled while cleaning out the big cat's cage.

The Caswell County Sheriff's Department were called to the scene as soon as the attack happened, and made several attempts to tranquilise the lion in order to rescue Black. Unfortunately, they failed, and had to resort to shooting the animal in order to reach the young intern. By that time, of course, it was too late to save her.

"The Conservators Center is devastated by the loss of a human life today," the centre said in a statement shared to Facebook yesterday.

According to the statement released by the zoo, it is still "unclear" how the incident came about:

"While a husbandry team led by a professionally trained animal keeper was carrying out a routine enclosure cleaning, one of the lions somehow left a locked space and entered the space the humans were in and quickly killed one person. It is unclear at this time how the lion left the locked enclosure.

"The lion was shot and killed to allow Caswell County personnel to retrieve the worker. This is an ongoing investigation and we have no further details at this time. We will offer more information as we know more. The Conservators Center will be closed until further notice."

Law enforcement does not appear to have released a statement at this time

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Many followers of the Facebook page were quick to offer their condolences, with lots of people vouching for the centre's impeccable record of ensuring that keepers and animals are safe.

"This is so tragic because I have volunteered here before and I know what you guys do to take the safety of humans and animals into consideration," said one person.

"For people that don’t understand anything about wild animals no matter if they are captive or not they are still wild and when we step into an enclosure we take that risk that something like this could happen. But when we love what we do and want to educate people on our passion for these animals it’s something that we understand could happen no matter how many safety procedures that are in place.

"For her family, I pray for strength and understanding and peace during this difficult time."

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"We firmly believe that people are more likely to protect the wildlife and the environment that they know and love after making a personal connection with an animal," The Conservators Center says on their website. "To that end, we strive each day to share the stories of each of our residents and facts about the species they represent with the public through our tours, field trips, events, and collaborative partnerships."

Black, who had only recently graduated from Indiana University, held a bachelor's degree in animal behaviour and dreamt of becoming a zookeeper one day. Our thoughts are with her friends, family and loved ones at this difficult time.