Two wildlife conservationists, an Italian father and his son, were accidentally shot and killed in the Mana Pools wildlife national park in northern Zimbabwe after park rangers apparently mistook them for poachers, the government admitted Monday.

Two rangers patrol in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Rangers in the park always patrol with guns because the poaching groups have become increasingly sophisticated and armed. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority identified the two Italian nationals as Claudio Chiarelli and Max Chiarelli. The two might have been on an anti-poaching patrol in the park late Sunday afternoon when they were shot.

"Rangers who had been pursuing the spoor of suspected poachers came across a fresh fire place in dense vegetation, which they suspected to have been used by poachers. They later saw movement in the thicket, heard voices and opened fire, accidentally killing on spot the pair," the parks authority said in a statement.

The parks authority said the two men who worked for a wildlife conservation organization, Zambezi Society, had on the day decided to join the parks authority on an anti-poaching patrol and had come to replace the rangers when they stopped to attend to a mechanical problem on their vehicle.

It said investigations on the matter were underway.

An official with the Italian Embassy in Harare confirmed that the killed men were an Italian father and his son, whose ages have not yet been revealed. The father had lived in Zimbabwe for more than 30 years.

The official could not give further details saying "we have not yet received an official report so we cannot comment further because we don't know exactly what happened and we are waiting for authorities to come up with a report".

Emmanuel Fundira, head of the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe told Xinhua Chiarelli the father was a renowned professional hunter who regularly volunteered to assist the national parks with logistics and technical support in its anti-poaching activities.

He said as the private sector they had the responsibility to assist the national parks in wildlife conservation efforts and that they had numerous such organizations of volunteers in all areas with a high concentration of wildlife.

"Mr Chiarelli frequently volunteered his time to assist the national parks with logistics and technical support on its anti-poaching activities and it is one such tragic incident that has happened," Fundira said.

Zimbabwe has some of Africa's largest and most popular game reserves. Despite its applaudable reputation for conservation in the 1980s and 1990s, Zimbabwe in recent years has faced increasing pressure to protect its wild animals from better equipped and sophisticated poaching rings.

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