May 30, 2016

Poachers in Zimbabwe use cyanide to kill five elephants

Poachers in Zimbabwe use cyanide to kill 5 elephants
In this Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013 file photo, a game ranger walks by a rotting elephant carcass, in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean officials say poachers killed five elephants by poisoning them with cyanide. Violet Makoto, spokeswoman for Zimbabwe's forestry commission, said Monday, May 30, 2016 that rangers discovered the carcasses of the elephants with their tusks removed in a western forest last week. No arrests have been made. (AP Photo)

Zimbabwean officials say poachers killed five elephants by poisoning them with cyanide.

Rangers discovered the carcasses of the elephants with their tusks removed in a western forest last week, Violet Makoto, spokeswoman for Zimbabwe's forestry commission, said Monday. No arrests have been made, she said.

Makoto said the poison was laced on salt licks, a method now regularly used by poachers to kill elephants in Zimbabwe.

She says poachers killed four other elephants in the same area in February.

The wildlife-rich southern African country has battled cyanide poisoning of wildlife by poachers for the past three years. Poachers killed 62 elephants by that method in October.

© 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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