Suspected poachers gun down 14 elephants
Lifeless . . . A game warden holds the tusks of one of the 14 elephants shot by poachers in Gonarezhou National Park.
ALMOST a year after 14 elephants were machine-gunned from a light aircraft in the Gonarezhou National Park by suspected foreign poachers with the assistance of locals, no arrests have been made while gory details of how the animals were killed have emerged.
According to an official privy to the investigations, the 14 jumbos — stated as 10 by the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority — were gunned down near the confluence of Runde and Save rivers in the Gonarezhou National Park side that borders Mahenye.
The elephants had their tusks sawn off using what appeared to be electric saws, according to a police report shown to The Sunday Mail.
About 20 spent cartridges were later retrieved, after the investigators initially failed to locate them at the crime scene. They were later handed over to game rangers from Gonarezhou, according to the source.
National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesperson Ms Caroline Washaya confirmed that no arrests had been made so far.
“We confirm that 10 elephants were poached in Gonarezhou and according to accounts given by villagers the poachers used helicopters which again according to villagers were seen flying in the direction of the poached elephants.
“Almost a year down the line no one has been apprehended but investigations are in progress and the authority is working together with the police. At times when poachers do their illegal activities they then seek refuge in neighbouring countries thereby making investigations difficult.” Ms Washaya said Interpol had also been roped in to assist with the investigations.
She dismissed allegations that personnel from her organisation had been fingered.
“So far no evidence has been found to link Parks and we emphasise that Parks and Wildlife Management Authority’s investigations unit is working with the police on this matter but if there is evidence linking Parks personnel the law will take its course,” she said.
A South African national, identified only as B. Coetzee, has been linked with the poaching of elephants.
Information gathered by The Sunday Mail from aviation authority sources confirm that on May 24 2010, three light aircraft (registration details available) were cleared by Buffalo Range Airport.
The pilots stated Villa Ncolosi, Mozambique, as their destination but are believed to have landed at an airstrip at a safari concession, In Afro Safaris, situated in the Mavhuwe area on the Mozambican side overlooking the Save River.
Villagers spotted the two light aircraft flying low along the Save River.
“I work as a miller at a grinding mill at Chipote near Mahenye and I saw two small aeroplanes flying very low along the Save River on 24 May 2010. They flew near our grinding mill overlooking the Save River. The white men in the planes were waving at us.
“Hardly moments after they passed us, we heard a helicopter coming from the direction the small planes had taken. The next thing we heard was 14 elephants had been shot dead,” said Mr Edson Chauke.
According to police, a National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and Save Valley Conservancy internal investigation report stated that a herd of about 700 elephants were at their usual crossing point at the small Makandwe River (Mozambique) back into Zimbabwe when a helicopter appeared and herded them towards the confluence.
Meanwhile, stated the report, light machine-guns from the two aircraft started firing indiscriminately at the startled elephants while the helicopter buzzed above.
Mr Hlabaniso Ngove, a villager from Mahenye village, also confirmed spotting the helicopter
and the light planes flying low along the Save River.
“I first heard and later saw two small planes flying low along the river. Soon after I heard a helicopter coming from the opposite direction. They circled for a long time at a spot in the river and then we heard 14 elephants had been killed,” said Mr Ngove.
A security officer, Mr Joseph Shungwana, at the Tysen Mine — about 3km from where the elephants were gunned down — also confirmed seeing and hearing the sound of the aircraft.
Investigators are still baffled by how the poachers managed to transport the tusks given that they were using small aircraft.
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