Image of the Day: Elephant family slaughtered by poachers in Tsavo National Park, Kenya – ‘Elephants are now faced with the gravest threat to their survival in modern history’
ELEPHANT FAMILY BUTCHERED IN TSAVO – BIG LIFE TEAMS INVOLVED IN HUNT FOR KILLERS – NEWS UPDATES TO BE REPORTED SOON It’s the kind of discovery that stops everything: five elephant carcasses laid out on the dusty earth of Tsavo West National Park, the remains of a family. The gruesome scene, found on Tuesday morning (July 28) has sparked a huge coordinated effort, led by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), to catch the killers. Big Life’s rapid response and dog units immediately joined KWS on the poachers’ tracks, and we can report that there has already been some success. Due to the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation, we will release a full update at an appropriate time. Until then, know that there is a team of dedicated people who are not resting in pursuit of those behind this horrendous act.
By Morgan Winsor
29 July 2015 (IBT) – Kenyan wildlife authorities Wednesday arrested two suspected poachers in the slaughter of five elephants in Tsavo National Park. But a major manhunt was still underway to catch the rest of the killing gang after the carcasses of a female adult and four young adult elephants were found with their tusks missing, Agence France-Presse reported. The five elephants were killed in Tsavo West National Park, which covers about 3,500 square miles and harbors some 11,000 pachyderms including rhinos, hippos, and elephants. The reserve is near the border with Tanzania and is Kenya’s largest elephant sanctuary. “The suspected gang is believed to comprise … four Tanzanians who operate across the Tanzania-Kenya border assisted by some Kenyans from the local area. They are believed to have used motorbikes to escape with the tusks,” the Kenya Wildlife Service, which operates the park, told AFP. […] The combined Tsavo parks saw the elephant population plummet from more than 60,000 in the early 1970s to fewer than 6,000 in the late 1980s. The establishment of the Kenya Wildlife Service and an international ivory trade ban in 1989 have helped slowly revive Tsavo’s elephant population, but there has been an unprecedented rise in poaching across the African continent since 2009. “Elephants are now faced with the gravest threat to their survival in modern history,” U.K. charity Save the Elephants says on its website. Kenya’s elephant population stands at about 38,000 nationwide. Wildlife conservationists and experts have warned African elephants could be extinct in the wild within a few decades, the Guardian reported. [more]
Kenya Elephant Poaching: Suspected Poachers Arrested For Tsavo National Park Killings
