“Our rangers were conducting a routine anti-poaching operation on Wednesday night when they came across suspected poachers,” said park spokesman Reynold Thakuli. “A gunfight ensued and two of them were shot dead.
He said the others managed to flee, and that they were suspected to have escaped across the border to Mozambique.
Kruger, one of South Africa’s top tourist destinations, has been hit hard by poachers, with 252 rhinos killed there in 2011 — more than half the estimated 450 killed last year across South Africa. The 2010 figure was 333.
The country has beefed up security inside the park, with soldiers deployed to assist rangers.
“The men carried hunting rifles, axes and other weapons,” said Thakuli.
The dramatic spike in rhino killings has been driven by demand for its use in Asian traditional medicine, especially in China and Vietnam, where it is believed to cure cancer despite scientific evidence to the contrary.