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62 Zimbabwe Elephants Poisoned with Cyanide - and then Butchered for their Tusks

62 Zimbabwe Elephants Poisoned with Cyanide - and then Butchered for their Tusks

 

At least 62 elephants, including babies, were brutally murdered by being poisoned with cyanide in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. At first it was assumed that poachers were responsible, but as this horror story continues to unfold, a top police assistant commissioner and other officials, are now suspect. A “huge and powerful poaching syndicate” including foreign nationals from Asia, are said to be involved in ordering the killings, with the help of at least some of the park’s rangers.

Then, three journalists from the state-run newspaper in Zimbabwe, The Sunday Mail, which reported the involvement of corrupt police officials in the brutal killings, were arrested for ‘slander’ and ‘peddling falsehood.’ According to Amnesty International, which is calling for their immediate release, the arrest is “a shocking attempt to threaten freedom of the press.” The three journalists will appear in court on Wednesday. They could face a fine, or 20 years in jail if convicted. Unfortunately, the siege on journalists is not new in Zimbabwe. In March of this year, human rights defender and renowned reporter, Itai Dzamara, disappeared, believed to be abducted, after he led protests against Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and his decades long decimation of the economy.

While poaching continues to escalate into an unimaginable crisis in Zimbabwe, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchingui-Kashiri is seeking military assistance through helicopter patrol, drones, and new wildlife tracking systems. She claims that, “You will now see a very serious operation which should send a warning to these poachers that we are very serious.” With such extreme measures being deployed, one would think that the Minister is more committed than ever to protecting the country’s traumatized elephant population.

But while Minister Kashiri is calling on military force to end the poaching, she has unabashedly stated that Zimbabwe will ‘keep promoting the sale of live animals because it is part of our Act that we must do hunting and also export live animals because it’s the most sustainable way of keeping our sizes very low because 80,000 elephants is unsustainable since our environment is being destroyed.” This is a deeply troubling statement on many levels, including the numerous falsehoods that are being used as an excuse to exploit elephants. Minister Kashiri goes on to say that “We exported elephants to China and there was a backlash from America. But we are glad they are also importing. They imported elephants from Swaziland as we speak. So now we can challenge them that they are denying us from exporting to China yet they are importing.”

Unfortunately, at this time, Zimbabwe’s elephants are not safe from poachers, police officials, the rangers paid to protect them, American zoo interests, nor the Minister who plans to sell them off. We continue to oppose the importation of ALL live captured elephants, be it from Swaziland, Zimbabwe, or anywhere in the world. Please stay tuned as we will report on continued efforts to increase protection for elephants in Zimbabwe.

Read more on the cyanide poisoning and the arrests here.

Read more from Zimbabwe’s Minister here.

Click here to stay apprised of Amnesty International’s efforts to protect the three journalists in Zimbabwe.

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