Terrorist Poachers Kill At Least 33 Elephants In African National Park

<p>Pixabay</p>
<p>Pixabay</p>

On Tuesday, wildlife officials from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) announced that they had uncovered dozens of elephant carcasses inside Garamba National Park, one of the oldest and largest protected areas in Africa. In a statement released by the African Parks Network (APN), the NGO that manages Garamba, officials said they were able to track down a group of eight poachers and exchanged gunfire, shooting three -- but not before the poachers slaughtered at least 33 of the endangered animals. Many of the elephants appear to have been killed in April, but several reportedly died and had their tusks sawed off on Friday, according to National Geographic.

"Whilst we cannot confirm the source of the threat, we have reason to believe that the major poaching thrust is emanating from the heavily forested Azande Domaine de Chasse (hunting range) to the west of the park," said APN director Peter Fearnhead. "We are as yet unable to confirm whether the current poaching onslaught emanates from the LRA [Lord's Resistance Army, a known terrorist organization], Sudanese poaching gangs, local Congolese poachers, or a combination of these. The extremely heightened level of poaching suggests an organized group or groups of poachers focusing their efforts on Garamba."

The attack comes almost exactly two years after poachers killed two dozen elephants in Garamba in the spring of 2012, as well as another incident blamed on the LRA last year. Each poaching incident is said to be coordinated, with the 2012 slaughter having been allegedly committed from Ugandan military helicopters.

The ivory trade drives a brutal campaign of international poaching that killed 22,000 elephants in 2012 alone, despite a global ban on the sale of ivory. Join us in pledging never to buy new or vintage ivory products -- which include narwhal, walrus and hippo ivory -- to help save the world's animals from poaching.

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