Zimbabwe elephants poisoned

Nine adult elephants and a calf have been poisoned with cyanide around Zimbabwe’s largest wildlife area, the government’s Hwange National Park.

Four of the poisoned elephants died near the south of the park and their tusks were taken. The others, including a mother and her calf, were found further north. Poachers had not yet returned to hack out their tusks.

Trevor Lane from the Bhejane Trust, which monitors wildlife activity, said yesterday that government rangers were following up.

“The poachers left buckets with cyanide mixed with salt which have been recovered,” he said.

“Some vultures will have been poisoned as well. We should expect more poaching this year because people are so poor in this bad economic situation.” – Peta Thornycroft