Pretoria - The South African National Parks (SANParks) has announced the first confirmed elephant poaching incident in the Kruger National Park (KNP) in well over 10 years.
The incident occurred in the Pafuri region, in the northern part of the KNP.
According to SANParks Rangers Corp Officer Commanding, Major General (Ret) Johan Jooste, forensic evidence suggests that the elephant bull was purposefully shot for its tusks, which were hacked off and carried away by suspected poachers.
He said rangers patrolling the area noticed footprints of approximately four individuals leading towards Mozambique leaving the park.
“Upon further investigations, which involved backtracking, the rangers on patrol came upon the elephant carcass.”
Jooste said ballistic evidence found at the scene confirmed that the animal was shot, adding that investigations are currently underway.
SANParks Acting Chief Executive Officer, Abe Sibiya, said: “Given the situation in the rest of the continent in relation to rampant poaching of elephants we have known that it was a matter of time before South Africa got targeted as well.
“Though our focus has been largely on curbing rhino poaching we have also been preparing ourselves to fight the poaching of elephants as well.
“We are saddened by this latest incident but are confident that the dedication and efforts of our rangers and our partners in the security sector will eventually prevail over this malady.” – SAnews.gov.za
