Wildlife

Poaching Tragedy

Four more elephants have been poisoned with cyanide by poachers in Zimbabwe, this time in the country’s Zambezi National Park.

More than 100 of the jumbos died in convulsions from the poison last September at Hwange National Park, the country’s largest.

Some of the 14 people arrested for the slaughter were given sentences of up to 16 years along with stiff fines.

According to authorities, a well-coordinated poaching syndicate, targeting the animals’ ivory tusks, laced water and salt licks with the poison at main drinking sites for the animals.

While elephant populations have dropped sharply across many parts of Africa as poaching activity accelerated in recent years, Zimbabwe still has one of the continent’s largest surviving populations.

The surge in poaching is blamed on a still growing demand for ivory in Asia and even the United States at a time when there is a global moratorium on ivory trade.