The value of proper training added to on-the-job gut feel paid off for two Kruger National Park (KNP) staffers with an 11-year sentence handed to a suspected rhino poacher this month, five years after the suspect was apprehended. KNP dog handlers stationed at the park’s Kruger and Phabeni gates, tasked as part of what SANParks said was "a special operation" in January 2020 flagged a suspicious vehicle on a gravel road linking Skukuza and Pretoriuskop. The driver ignored the stop request with Kruger personnel in a short-lived chase. Two passengers exited and fled leaving the driver to face the music. A hunting rifle was found in the vehicle with the driver protesting innocence of any crime and claiming he was hijacked. Support in the form of Kruger rangers, the park's environmental investigation unit and protection services as well as police were summoned with a SANParks statement making no mention of the passengers. Ammunition, probably for the rifle, was found along with two knives.