Early we reported “Rhino alive. Horn Hacked by poachers.” If you have read that, then this news may give you some relief.

The Masvingo regional court has sentenced a member of the Mazhongwe rhino poaching gang to 17 years in prison for killing an endangered rhino.

ecoworldly.com

Justice – at last: Zimbabwe rhino poacher Tichaona Mutyairi has been sentenced to 17 years in jail for killing a rhino and firing on police in October 2009.

According to allAfrica, Mutyairi and his two cousins, Samson and Ishmael Mazhongwe killed the rhino at Matendere Range with an AK- 47 rifle and then removed the rhino’s horn. During an exchange of gunfire with police, Mutyairi was shot in the abdomen.

The International Rhino Foundation and other conservation groups are hoping this case is a turning point for Zimbabwe’s dismal track record of convicting rhino poachers.

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