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South African notorious trophy hunter Riaan Naudé has been murdered in cold blood. His murder may have been the result of animal lovers’ hatred for the 55-year-old man who liked to show off the wild and sometimes endangered animals he shot on the internet.
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Tommy Huyghebaert
Yesterday at 17:35-
“Time to open an excellent bottle of champagne.” “Karma.” “Is there a photo of the killer posing with Naudé’s body as a hunting trophy, like the man himself did with all the hundreds of endangered animals he killed?” These are just three of the many harsh comments that appear on social media about the murder of Riaan Naudé. Naudé was killed on June 8 near Mokopane in the Limpopo province of northern South Africa, but the identity of the victim remains unknown.
The killer shot Naudé at close range with a bullet through the head. That happened when the trophy hunter was parked on the side of the road because the engine of his all-terrain vehicle overheated. It is still unclear whether the car breakdown was a coincidence or not. A witness saw everything happen. He saw two men stop their car next to Naudé’s car, heard a shot and saw the white car with the perpetrators tearing away from the spot. Presumably they took one of Naudé’s weapons. “Police found two shotguns, ammunition, clothing, water, a bottle of whiskey and pajamas in the deceased’s car. It looks like he was hunting,” said South African police chief Mamphaswa Seabi.
Hate
Although the South African judicial authorities are still fully investigating the murder, it is sometimes heard that Naudé was the victim of hatred against his person. The fact that he liked to show off the dead elephants, giraffes, lions that he shot together with the clients of his hunting company Pro Hunt Africa on social media such as Instagram and Facebook, made him the number one enemy of many animal lovers.
The website of the hunting company specializing in hunting safaris near the Kruger Park Nature Reserve lists the rates per hunting day and the list of prices per shot animal. Shooting a zebra costs just under a thousand euros, while Naudé’s customers paid 2,000 euros to hunt a crocodile. For a lion, rhinoceros, buffalo, elephant, leopard you have to request the price according to the website. According to the website, hunters who wanted to show off an endangered animal could also turn to Pro Hunt Africa – with the slogan ‘the company that makes your African dream come true’.
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