Poachers kill 17 elephants

2006-12-31 19:46

Harare - Supsected Zambian poachers killed 17 elephants and a rhino in neighbouring Zimbabwe and wounded a game ranger based near the famed Victoria Falls bordering the two countries, a Sunday newspaper said.

The ranger from National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority was now recovering at a private hospital in the country's second city of Bulawayo, the Sunday Mail said.

"On Friday, an aerial view was conducted and what was established was that 17 elephant carcasses ranging from fresh to semi-fresh were discovered," an unnamed wildlife source told the weekly.

"All of them had their tusks missing. The most affected area has been the Robins Camp. One rhino has been reported to have been killed."

Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesperson Edward Mbewe said: "We experienced some problems of poaching during the festive season and few weeks before.

"In Victoria Falls, we had contact with the poachers and they ran away into Zambia. Three weeks back or in early December in the northern region we also encountered some poachers from outside the country. One, who is of Zambian origin, was apprehended and is asssisting us with investigations," he said.

Poachers were also detected at about the same time in the Hwange National Park, Mbewe said.

"We suspect that these are the same poachers who have been coming from Zambia."

Ivory trade in Zimbabwe is controlled under a 1997 United Nations convention on trade in endangered species (CITES) which allows for trade in ivory obtained from elephants which died from natural causes.

Trade in ivory was banned in 1989 in an effort to protect elephant herds, which had been ravaged by the demand for tusks, particularly from Asia.

- AFP