In an act of what humans see as vigilante justice, Mother Nature has dealt a fatal blow to man in a way no courtroom or judge ever could. According to a recent report by several news outlets, police found a few remains of a man believed to have been poaching big game animals at a nature reservation in South Africa.

“It seems the victim was poaching in the game park when he was attacked and killed by lions,” said Moasthe Ngoepe, a police spokesman from the province of Limpopo. “They ate his body, nearly all of it, and just left his head and some remains.”  After having a closer look at the scene, reserve managers indicated that there were a small group of poachers who were “fleeing the scene at a very rapid pace.” The scene was the Umbabat Private Nature Reserve, where a heavy caliber firearm and ammunition were found and recovered from the scene.

This is an ironic way for lions to leave a human carcass, given that’s the same way many big game hunters hang their trophies on the wall – just a stuffed head archaically displayed, forever advertising the murder they committed for nothing more than the “thrill of the hunt.”

In this case, however, there appears to be a different motive for specifically killing lions. Apparently, the body parts of lions are worth big money on the black market, where they are traded and used in the creation of native and traditional medicines. About a year ago, several lions were found dead from being poisoned near a farm in this same province, with only their heads and paws cut off. The risks poachers take to kill lions and other big game is extremely high – if you’re not hunted down and killed by the lions themselves, poachers also have to be on the lookout park officials hired to protect these endangered animals and who will shoot at poachers upon sighting. The African lion population has decreased 43% in the last 21 years, and lions are now extinct in seven African countries in which they formerly had natural habitats.

When karma decides it’s time to strike back, there’s absolutely nothing anyone can do to stop it. Karma’s revenge, you might say.

When lions attack, there is no mercy, there is no parole, and there is definitely no hope of being exonerated because your defense lawyer is a slick talker who knows how to bend and manipulate the law of the land in a courtroom. When lions attack back, you’re likely getting a death sentence… and rightfully so.