The owners of Out of Africa Adventurous Safaris, a South African-based hunting company, have been charged with conspiracy to sell illegal rhinoceros hunts in South Africa to American hunters, according to a federal indictment unsealed in Montgomery, Alabama.
Dawie Groenewald, 46, and his brother, Janneman Groenewald, 44, both South African nationals, are accused of lying to American hunters, telling them that a particular rhino had to be killed because it was a “problem rhino” in order to sell them the illegal hunts.
The indictment alleges that the defendants failed to obtain necessary permits required by South Africa and cut the horns off some of the rhinos with chainsaws and knives. The rhino horn was then sold on the black market, with the American hunters paying between $3,500 and $15,000 for the illegal hunts.
Eleven illegal hunts are detailed in the indictment, including one in which the rhino had to be shot and killed after being repeatedly wounded by a bow, and another in which Dawie Groenewald used a chainsaw to remove the horn from a sedated rhino that had been hunted with a tranquilizer gun.
The indictment charges the Groenewald brothers with conspiracy, Lacey Act violations, mail fraud, money laundering, and structuring bank deposits to avoid reporting requirements. The Lacey Act makes it a crime to sell animal hunts conducted in violation of state, federal, tribal, and foreign law.
“We are literally fighting for the survival of a species today. In that fight, we will do all we can to prosecute those who traffic in rhino horns and sell rhino hunts to Americans in violation of foreign law,” said Sam Hirsch, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division.
The case is a warning shot to outfitters and hunters that the sale of illegal hunts in the U.S. will be vigorously prosecuted, regardless of where the hunt takes place, Hirsch added.
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Key Facts
- State: Alabama
- Category: Violent Crime|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Environment & Wildlife
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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