'Mafia Family' Arrested in South Africa for Facilitating the Extermination of Rhinos — For Their Horns

The Groenewald family in court.

By Laurel Neme
The Groenewald brothers own and operate Out of Africa Adventurous Safaris, an outfitter that organizes and conducts trips in private hunting areas in Botswana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, including at their 10,600-acre (4,300-hectare) game farm, Prachtig, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) south of the town of Musina, in South Africa's Limpopo Province.

U.S. authorities will be seeking to extradite the brothers from South Africa.

According to the 18-count indictment, between 2005 and 2010 the Groenewald brothers duped nine American hunters at their ranch into illegally shooting rhinos.

The brothers would then cut off the horns and sell them on the black market in Asia.

The Groenewalds and their safari company solicited American hunters at large regional sportsmen's shows, including Safari Club International conventions.

They also donated hunts to local chapters of Safari Club International in Kansas City, Missouri, and a National Rifle Association convention in Louisville, Kentucky.

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