January 30, 2019

6 animals electrocuted in 'freak accident' at South Africa's Kruger park

WATCH: Saving rhinos is 'risky' business in South Africa

Six large animals were electrocuted to death at South Africa's biggest national park in what officials described as "a freak accident."

A heavy storm toppled a power line in the Skukuza section of Kruger National Park last Friday, exposing a live cable that killed a giraffe and a white rhino, according to park spokesman Isaac Phaahla.

(MORE: Malawi probes mysterious mass deaths of hippos at national park)
Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images, FILE
White rhinoceros or square-lipped rhinoceros in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve adjacent to the Kruger National Park in South Africa are the second largest land mammals in the world.

Two lions and two hyenas were also electrocuted while trying to feed on the carcasses.

"I think they also touched the live wire," Phaahla told ABC News via telephone Wednesday. "It is a freak accident."

(MORE: Black rhinos return to Chad, nearly 50 years after local extinction)
Ian Walton/Getty Images, FILE
A hyena is pictured in Kruger National Park on Feb. 6, 2013, in Skukuza, South Africa.

Park rangers discovered the dead animals the following day. The rhino's horns were removed for safekeeping, according to Phaahla.

The world-renowned Kruger National Park is one of Africa's largest game reserves. It spans more than 7,523 square miles, roughly the size of Israel.