South African police said blacks had devoured a fisherman believed to target blacks and other predators in the Kruger reserve.
The remains of the fisherman's body were only a few days away, but some of the remains were found at the weekend in the protected part near the town of Huidspruit.
"It seems that the victim was illegally hunting in the reserve when the swimmers attacked him and left him," South African police spokesman Mauchi Nguybi was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying.
"The seabees ate almost all of his body and only his head and some of the remains remained."
Police have not yet identified the dead man, but the eyewitnesses reported that he had found a hunting rifle and a quantity of gear near his captors.
Illegal lions have seen an upsurge in Limpopo in recent years.
Members of these animals are sometimes used in traditional medicine in Africa and other areas.
According to Born Free, a wildlife organization, the bones of lions and other lions have received increasing demand in Southeast Asia, as an alternative to tiger bones used in traditional treatments.
In January 2017, three blacks were found poisoned in Limpopo after being severed with their heads and limbs