Source: WWF.
Source: Global Animal
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Poachers Poison Watering Holes—African Elephants In Danger of Extinction!
By Lisa Singer
(ANIMAL WELFARE/POACHING) Just when you thought people couldn’t sink any lower…poachers are now poisoning African elephants to fuel the illicit ivory trade. It was horrifying enough when they were slaughtering these beautiful animals with machetes and guns at the rate of one in every 15 minutes; now they’re lacing the elephants’ watering holes with cyanide. Last year alone, some 36,000 elephants were killed—a poaching trend conservationists believe will decimate all elephants in less than 12 years. What’s even more cruel is the elephants aren’t the only ones being killed. African authorities say because of the potency of the poison, the animals who feed off the elephants’ carcasses will also die, and so will the animals that eat them. Earlier this year, a group of men caught committing this horrendous crime were arrested. Their punishment? A mere two years! Hundreds of animals will perish and an iconic species may become extinct yet they’re given a slap on the wrist. Read below for more on the atrocities these beautiful creatures are facing and sign the petition to stop the senseless killing of African elephants for their ivory. — Global Animal
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| Poachers are poisoning watering holes with cyanide. At least 41 African elephants have been killed. Photo Credit: Associated Press |
Armed with guns and machetes, poachers have managed to decimate Africa’s wild
elephant populations, felling one of these iconic animals every 15 minutes. But
as if those weapons weren’t destructive enough, poachers have now turned to a
far more indiscriminate tool to kill elephants — poison.
Police in northern Zimbabwe are reporting that they recently apprehended a group of poachers possessing a large quantity of tusks taken from elephants on the grounds of Hwange National Park. Instead of using high-powered rifles to kill the animals, however, Chief Inspector Muyambirwa Muzzah says that the poachers laced their watering holes with cyanide.
Unfortunately, such broadly applied poison can easily lead to wildlife
fatalities beyond its intended targets.
“What they were doing is very cruel because it does not end with the death of the elephants. We have what we call the fourth generation effect due to the potency of cyanide as a poison. Animals that feed on the dead elephants will die and those that feed on the dead animals will also die,” Muzzah tells The Chronicle.
“It will go back on the food chain and hundreds of animals may end up dead.”
Last May, another poaching racket was found to have employed a similar method
of poisoning elephants’ drinking water and collecting the tusks from their
corpses; the five-member group was sentenced to two years in prison for the
crime.
Since then, says Muzzah, 69 elephants have been killed in this region
of Zimbabwe. Despite conservation efforts meant to protect the species,
elephants across Africa have been in steady decline due to poaching, fueled
largely by the illegal ivory trade. At current rates, elephants are projected to
be extinct in the wild in little over a decade – though if mass poisonings
become the prefered method among poachers, extinction could occur even
sooner.
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Treehugger: http://www.treehugger.com/endangered-species/poachers-poison-watering-hole-kill-41-african-elephants.html
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