|
Sierra Leone elephants wiped out by poachers |
|
|
Friday, 27 November 2009 |
 Poachers "wiped out" the entire elephant herd in Sierra Leone's only
wildlife park, wildlife managers said Thursday after police said they
had arrested a gang of 10 poachers.
"It is likely that the elephant population is wiped out," Ibrahim
Bangura, senior superintendent of the agriculture ministry's
Conservation and Wildlife Management Unit.
The six elephants were shot and "crudely butchered, their bodies
slashed with sword marks and their tusks virtually wrenched from their
skins," said Bangura.
Police said 10 poachers were arrested after the discovery of the
elephant carcasses and those of four buffaloes in Outamba Kilimni
national park, near the border with Guinea.
The men, from Sierra Leone and Guinea, are being held in the northern town of Koinadugu.
"We believe the killing was done between September and October and this is a great blow to all of us," said Bangura.
"We had treasured?the elephant population in the park as they are very
important to the development of ecotourism in the country."
Tourism Ministry officials said a crack military unit has been
stationed near the park after frequent incursions by poachers from
Guinea and Mali hunting wild animals.
|
