Ivory poachers jailed for killing 81 elephants in national park

Updated
Ivory poachers jailed for killing 81elephants in national park
Ivory poachers jailed for killing 81elephants in national park


Three ivory poachers have been convicted of killing 81 elephants by poisoning their water holes with cyanide in Zimbabwe.

The elephants all lived in a nature park in the north west of the country, reports theDaily Express. The poachers used cyanide to kill them in order to collect ivory.

They have been sentenced to up to 16 years in jail, court officials said.

Officials in the court in Hwange, 470 miles west of Harare, said today the men were found guilty under anti-poaching laws and for illegal possession of 17 elephant tusks.

Another five suspects were ordered to be held in custody until their trail next week.

Wildlife authorities say 81 elephant carcasses were found in the remote Hwange National Park in the past month.

Officials said it was not clear where the other tusks were hidden or whether they had already been smuggled out of Zimbabwe to lucrative illegal ivory markets in Asia, reports the Associated Press.

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