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Kenya: Poachers kill 11 elephants in worst attack
Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki sets on fire an illegal ivory stockpile, July 20, 2011 at the Tsavo National Park. PHOTO/Tony Karumba /AFP/Getty Images
(Reuters) – A family of eleven elephants have been killed in Kenya in what officials say was the worst such incident in the past three decades.
“We have not lost as many elephants in a single incident since the early 1980s,” said Patrick Omondi, head of the elephant program at the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) on Tuesday. “This is a clear signal that things are getting worse.”
Elephant poaching in Kenya declined sharply after 1989 when the government banned trade in ivory. However, there has been a rise in the illegal practice in recent years.
Demand for ornamental ivory is rising fast in Asia, in tandem with growing Chinese influence and investment in Africa, which has opened the door wider for illicit trade in ivory and rhino horn.
The Kenya Wildlife Service said dog and aerial units were pursuing the poachers responsible for the slaughter.
“The entire family of 11 elephants have been confirmed poached and tusks chopped off. All the carcasses had bullet wounds,” the service said in a statement.
In May 2012, 359 tusks weighing 1.6 tonnes impounded in Sri Lanka were found to have come from Kenya’s Mombasa port.
