THERE appears to be a massive upswing in industrial poaching in Zimbabwe after police arrested three Lupane men in connection with the killing of about eight elephants whose carcasses were recently discovered at Ngamo Safaris. NDUDUZO TSHUMA STAFF REPORTER
About 8kg of cyanide and two buckets of water contaminated with the deadly cyanide poison were discovered buried underground at Ngamo Safaris on Sunday.
This comes hot on the heels of ongoing police investigations of poaching cases involving more than 100 jumbos that were killed in the Hwange National Park by cyanide poisoning.
The speed and brutal efficiency of this sudden uptick speaks to an organised systematic effort that could decimate Zimbabwe’s elephant population.
The poachers seem to be frequently working co-operatively with local populations by offering free elephant meat and ridding them of animals considered a crop-damaging nuisance.
The officer commanding police in Tsholotsho district Chief Superintendent Johannes Gowo on Wednesday said he had heard about the latest poaching case, but could not shed more light saying he was on leave and referred Southern Eye to the Matabeleland North provincial spokesperson’s office.
However, the Press office declined to comment saying it had no information on the matter.
When Southern Eye contacted national police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba, she could not immediately comment saying she was waiting for a fax from Matabeleland North on the case.
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However, police sources said a Forestry Commission official received information on Sunday that a villager in Lupane was dealing in cyanide and suspected that he was part of a syndicate behind the poisoning death of elephants at the Ngamo Safaris conservancy as he had visited the area before.
“The Forestry Commission official then alerted the police and went to Lupane business centre where they located the suspect. He was interrogated and admitted to the case before implicating another villager identified as Mthulisi Ncube,” a police source said.
“The police proceeded to the suspect’s homestead in Daluka and recovered 4kg of cyanide. They then raided Ncube’s homestead at night and recovered another 4kg of cyanide. Ncube implicated another man identified as William Ncube from Jotsholo who was on the run, but was eventually arrested yesterday.”
The sources said the suspects confessed that they had already sold 14 elephant tusks for $700.
“They were taken to Ngamo Safaris where the eight elephant carcasses were found and they pointed out where the poisoned water was. Three buckets with water laced with cyanide were found buried underground,” the source said.
The suspected poachers are expected to appear in court soon.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) is in the process of detoxing salt licks that were poisoned with cyanide by the poachers.
An EMA official said they started conducting the exercise when reports of the poisoning of elephants were reported.
