Poachers in Zimbabwe poison 87 elephants for ivory, official says

More than 80 elephants in Zimbabwe have been poisoned with cyanide -- the latest victims of poachers keen to feed soaring global demand for illegally trafficked ivory.

Since May, the carcasses of 87 elephants have been discovered in Hwange National Park, said Caroline Washaya-Moyo, public relations manager for Zimbabwe's Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.

The poachers poisoned natural salt licks to bring down the mighty beasts, she said Wednesday.

The parks authority has so far recovered 51 tusks, she said -- leaving 123 in the hands of the poachers.

Zimbabwe's newly appointed Environment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere told CNN that he would push for stiffer jail penalties to root out poaching in the wildlife-rich African nation.

Last month authorities arrested five suspected poachers after 41 elephants were found dead in the park, which is about 800 kilometers (500 miles) southwest of Harare, not far from Zimbabwe's border with Zambia. The other carcasses have been discovered since then, Washaya-Moyo said.

Three of those arrested have been convicted and are due to be sentenced this week, she said. Two investigations are ongoing.

The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, an anti-poaching organization, said the latest elephant deaths could have been avoided if Harare was tougher on those convicted of poaching.

He accused Zimbabwe of not doing enough to clamp down on poachers and of creating an impression that the country had more elephants than it can sustain.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare and the WWF conservation group said that a recent surge in the illicit ivory trade has resulted in the killing of 30,000 African elephants annually in recent years.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare, which published a major study into the illegal wildlife trade in June, calculates that an elephant loses its life to poaching on average every 15 minutes.

Much of the demand for ivory, as well as rhinoceros horn, is in Asia, and particularly China, where these items are used in traditional medicines and handicraft products, the report said.

The United States is widely considered to be the second-largest destination for illegally trafficked wildlife in the world, it said, with the European Union third.

Authorities in the United States have spoken out against the illegal trade in recent weeks.

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced this month that nearly six tons of elephant ivory seized by U.S. wildlife inspectors would be destroyed to highlight the issue.

Culled from CNN