Ethiopia has just seen one of the largest elephant massacres killed in a single day by poachers

Six elephants were killed in a single day in Ethiopia by poachers, one of the largest massacres in East Africa to have tusks

He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him

Six elephants were killed in a single day in Ethiopia by poachers, it is one of the largest massacres in East Africa and as always the whole, to have their precious tusks to be reviewed in gold weight at the illegal market that connects the continent black with the Asian one.

The elephants according to Ganabul Bulmi, the chief caretaker of the park had ventured out of Mago National Park to drink and poachers took advantage. “They then removed all the tusks from the elephants. A mass murder. We have never seen anything like it before, ”he said. In addition to these five, two other elephants are missing that may have been killed on the same day. "It was also difficult to catch the perpetrators because the locals living in the area are armed and were unwilling to cooperate with officials," Ganabul continued.

According to wildlife officials, Ethiopia had more than 10 elephants in the 70s, but poaching and biodiversity loss due to climate change and deforestation have reduced the number to around 2.500 to 3 in recent years. We have talked about poaching many times, but Daniel Pawlos, director of the Wildlife Conservation Authority, a government entity, said it was not thought to also exist in Ethiopia.

“Last year we documented up to 10 elephant killings. What makes this episode different is the high number of elephants killed in one day ", has explained.

5 elephants poached by armed groups in 1 night in Mago National Park , Lower Omo, #Ethiopia. Ivory tusks nowhere to be found. The impacts of #COVID19 on our wildlife and nature conservation efforts are going to felt incredibly hard. #wildlife #conservation #elephants #africa pic.twitter.com/JKKO2Ufs0r

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Officials suspect that most of the elephant tusks arrive on the Asian market. Recall that in 2015, Ethiopian officials burned 6,1 tons of illegal elephant tusks, ivory items, sculptures and various pieces of jewelry to discourage poaching and the ivory trade. But unfortunately the situation does not seem to have changed. The Covid-19 pandemic has left the field open to poachers, given that the reserves have remained uncovered due to the absence of controls diverted to the emergency. Add to this the fact that Ethiopia's elephant population is threatened by the animal-human conflict and that nationwide conservation efforts have been hampered in recent years by civil and political unrest.

Ethiopia has just seen one of the largest elephant massacres killed in a single day by poachers

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An estimated 400 elephants live across Africa, but they are under pressure everywhere. In Botswana, home to some 130 elephants, hunting licenses are being sold again after a five-year ban was lifted in 2019. Here, officials say hunting is necessary to alleviate the conflict between animals and humans, especially the animals. farmers. Drought was also a problem. In September and October, more than 200 elephants died from lack of water in Zimbabwe's main conservation areas in Mana Pools and Hwange National Park.

Source: The Guardian