In a very tragic event in the African continent, 14 elephants were poisoned to death when the food they were given were laced with cyanide.
Inside the Hwange and Matusadona National parks, the carcasses of the elephants were found; they had blood spilling out of their mouth from the poison. It was also noticeable that the tusks were removed from them.
Two years ago, there was also a similar tragedy that occurred. Almost 200 elephants were poisoned by poachers for their tusks. The tusks are made of ivory and are highly demanded in the black market.
It was reportedly orange salt licks laced with cyanide that caused the death of the 14 elephants.
"Some are done through the use of firearms and, of course, we have cases where we suspect that there is cyanide poisoning," Clement Munoriarwa, police commander for Mashonaland West province, told state television.
The increase in poaching activity in the park is happening every day, Munnoriarwa added.
The carcasses of the elephants, their kidney and liver have been tested for traces of the cyanide poison and came up positive. They were tested by the Biological Science Department. All carcasses were spread throughout three sites.
As of now there are no arrests being made. A $400 dollar reward is in lieu for whoever can give any information on the poachers. The nonprofit organization Matusadona Anti-Poaching Project is behind the reward.
Cyanide can be easily obtained in Zimbabwe since it is used widely in the mining industry of the country. There are over 100,000 elephants in Zimbabwe but with the never ending ivory trade, all of the elephants are considered threatened.
The fight for anti-poaching in Africa has been a long time battle between non-profit organizations and poachers. Highlighting the effect of these absurd practices seems to never faze the illegal poachers.
