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Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
Police in Beitbridge have arrested a 41-year-old suspected poacher who allegedly shot and killed a game ranger at Nottingham Estate some 40 km south west of Beitbridge town.

Bino Ndou is accused of shooting the now deceased once in the right side of the chest on Sunday morning.

Ndou had been cornered by three rangers while checking on his snares on the estate.

Matabeleland South police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Nkosilathi Sibanda said the man has been charged with murder.

He said the game ranger’s relatives were yet to be informed about the incident.

Asst Insp Sibanda said the ranger’s body was taken to Beitbridge District Hospital Mortuary for a post-mortem.

“Initial investigations reveal that Ndou set his snares in the estate between Friday and Saturday,” he said.

“These were then discovered by the now deceased who was on patrol on Saturday with two other workmates. They lay in ambush and the suspect arrived at around 10AM the following day. The rangers ordered him to surrender, but he ran away”.

Asst Insp Sibanda said the rangers then pursued him but he outpaced them and hid behind some shrubs.

He said when he spotted the now deceased, he shot the man once in the chest using a shotgun.

The ranger, he said, bled profusely and Ndou vanished from the scene, but was later arrested on the same day by a team of rangers and the police.

Cases of poaching are rife in ranches and safaris across the country.

In January, two poachers were shot and killed during an exchange of fire with a team of Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority rangers that was working with the police in Hwange National Park.