Zimbabwe: Chinese Miners Accused of Poisoning Elephants

SW Radio Africa (London)

Alex Bell

18 July 2011

A group of Chinese miners said to be prospecting for uranium in northern Zimbabwe, have been accused of poisoning elephants in the area and removing their tusks.

At least nine elephants in the Mushumbi Pools area have been killed in recent weeks, while several herbivores have also apparently died after eating poisoned grass. According to the chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, Johnny Rodrigues, the Chinese miners have been leaving poisoned loaves of bread for the elephants to eat. Rodrigues told SW Radio Africa on Monday that after killing the elephants, the Chinese were hacking off and taking away their tusks.

“They are poisoning food and putting it along paths commonly used by the elephants, resulting in the animals having terrible deaths. It is a disaster in the making because other animals are affected,” he said.

He explained that the poisoning is a serious threat to other wildlife, especially carnivores, who could also get sick by eating the contaminated elephant carcasses.

Rodrigues added that the local villagers too could also face serious risk if they ate the elephant meat.

“There is no food in Zimbabwe so fresh meat like this of course is tempting. We understand that the police have been to the area and told people not to eat the meat, so we could have avoided a serious event,” Rodrigues said.

The death of the elephants in Mushumbi Pools comes as rampant poaching continues to affect animals across the country. Most recently a suspected poaching syndicate has hit the Gonarezhou National Park, which is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area. Late last year ten elephants were killed in Gonarezhou and at least six more are said to have been killed in the same area, in the last month alone.

Meanwhile, two more elephants were last month brutally butchered at the Chiredzi River Conservancy, which is set to form part of the planned Transfrontier ‘Peace Park’.

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