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A savage end for the elephants killed by men who were supposed to protect them: Slaughtered beasts' remains lie scattered after rangers poisoned them in pay dispute
Elephants lie slaughtered on the ground after reportedly being poisoned and mutilated by disgruntled rangers at Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe in a reported pay dispute
THE ANIMAL EQUIVALENT OF GENOCIDE - Although at present Hwange is well-stocked with elephants, across Africa the population is in steep decline, with 100,000 elephants killed in Africa from 2011 to 2013, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Today, there are fewer than 500,000 on the continent. Much of the ivory is used to manufacture trinkets for the Asian market, particularly in CHINA.
Lying slaughtered on the ground with their heads barbarically hacked off, these elephants are believed to have been killed by the very men who were meant to be protecting them.
They are among 62 elephants who have been killed in Zimbabwe in the last month alone, not by poachers, but poisoned by disgruntled rangers. Staff at Hwange National Park have reportedly not received their already low wages and it is feared that the elephant killings in the park may be a form of 'protest' against management.
Continue reading and see additional images
Horrific pictures which emerged today show their remains scattered across the dusty ground after they were mutilated for their tusks. Some are too graphic to show in full.
The most recent attack, which took place earlier this week, saw 22 elephants, including babies, poisoned using cyanide hidden in salt stones and oranges.
Rangers working in the park are notoriously badly paid for a job where they are at constant risk, fighting off heavily armed poachers.
According to an inside source, rangers have only just received their pay due last month and management have failed to pay for fuel for the pumps for the park's watering holes, The Telegraph reported.
'I am afraid there are serious management problems within parks,' an unnamed source from Zimbabwe's National Parks and Wildlife Authority told The Telegraph.
'Some of the rangers are very dissatisfied with their remuneration and say that they are not getting some allowances they believe they should get.
'So many of us believe that some of the poaching at the moment is organised and executed by some rangers in parks, and we don't know how this will be sorted out.'
Monday's discovery of 22 elephant carcasses were made in the in park's Sinamatella area alongside 35 tusks, said Caroline Washaya-Moyo, spokeswoman for the parks and wildlife management authority.
The poachers, who apparently killed the elephants with cyanide, escaped with three ivory tusks.
China is the world's largest consumer of elephant ivory
The grim finding - made by park rangers Monday morning - brings the number of elephants poisoned by poachers in the southern Africa country in October alone to a staggering 62.
'We recovered 22 elephant carcasses in the Sinamatela area and so far we have also recovered 35 tusks,' Washaya-Moyo told AFP. 'Initial investigations indicate that there was cyanide poisoning.' She added: 'We continue to lobby for deterrent penalties for people found with poisonous substances such as cyanide. We can't continue to lose wildlife at such a rate.'
'We recovered 22 elephant carcasses in the Sinamatela area and so far we have also recovered 35 tusks,' Washaya-Moyo told AFP. 'Initial investigations indicate that there was cyanide poisoning.' She added: 'We continue to lobby for deterrent penalties for people found with poisonous substances such as cyanide. We can't continue to lose wildlife at such a rate.'
Rangers are now investigating how many of the elephants - who resided at the same park as Cecil the lion, who was shot dead by dentist Walter Palmer in July - had fully developed tusks. Speaking to the Associated Press, Washaya-Moyo said: 'We are now trying to check how many elephants had fully developed tusks because babies are among those killed.
'The rate at which we are losing animals to cyanide is alarming. Many other species are also dying from the cyanide used by poachers to target elephants. 'We are appealing to people in communities close to national parks to cooperate with authorities.'
The latest attacks come less than two weeks after 26 elephants died from poisoning in two separate incidents outside the park, in the resort town of Kariba and near Zimbabwe's border with Botswana. The three killed in Kariba died from cyanide put in oranges. And last month, at least 14 elephants died of poisoning in various attacks.
In the wake of the poisonings, officials recovered 2.2lbs of poison from the elephants' habitats. Poaching is common in Zimbabwe's game parks. Elephants and rhino are the main targets for poachers because of their tusks and horns, which are smuggled to eastern Asian countries.
Last year, more than 300 elephants died in suspected cyanide poisonings.
Washaya-Moyo said the parks agency is hoping that trained dogs from South Africa and the deployment of drones will help tighten monitoring of the vast, wildlife-rich park.
Earlier this month, Zimbabwe Environment, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchinguri blamed a ban on elephant sport hunting by the U.S. for increased poaching in the country.
'All this poaching is because of American policies, they are banning sport hunting.
'An elephant would cost $120,000 in sport hunting but a tourist pays only $10 to view the same elephant,' she said, adding money from sport hunting is crucial in conservation efforts.
Yesterday, the national parks announced that, over the weekend, officials at Harare International Airport seized 380 pounds of ivory, worth $43,250, that was about to be smuggled to Singapore.
Three Zimbabweans and a Malian national were arrested over the smuggling bid, officials said.
File photo: an elephant crosses the road in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Photo: AP
An elephant crosses the road in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe Photo: AP
File photo: mother elephant uses trunk to rescue baby stuck in the mud, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe Photo: Rex
Sources
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3295044/A-tragic-savage-end-elephants-killed-men-supposed-protecting-Slaughtered-beasts-remains-lie-scattered-rangers-poisoned-pay-dispute.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/11958445/Zimbabwes-elephants-poisoned-by-dissatisfied-rangers.html
http://animalpetitions.org/122433/justice-for-elephants-poisoned-in-zimbabwe/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3295044/A-tragic-savage-end-elephants-killed-men-supposed-protecting-Slaughtered-beasts-remains-lie-scattered-rangers-poisoned-pay-dispute.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/11958445/Zimbabwes-elephants-poisoned-by-dissatisfied-rangers.html
http://animalpetitions.org/122433/justice-for-elephants-poisoned-in-zimbabwe/
RELATED
BBC - China's ivory trade
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-26167893
China bans imports of ivory carvings. A mere symbolic gesture - The trade continues
February 27, 2015 - Beijing has imposed a one-year ban on imports of ivory carvings as critics say rising Chinese demand threatens African elephants with extinction, but campaigners described the move as "more symbolic than effective".
The measure came days ahead of a visit to China by Britain's Prince William, who has campaigned against illegal wildlife trafficking.
Source
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-2971478/China-bans-ivory-carving-imports-one-year.html
BABY ELEPHANT MOURNS HIS MOTHER - THE ONGOING MASSACRE OF ELEPHANTS - And how rescue centers that care for orphans only to release them into the wild to be killed, are unwittingly working for the poachers
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/12/baby-elephant-mourns-his-mother-ongoing.html
More news stories about elephants on this blog
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