Report by David Daballen

On the 17^th of April, an adult male elephant was shot dead by poachers at the School of Artillery, in an area called Chumvi. The carcass was missing both of its tusks, an act that led the team to believe that the adult male elephant was killed primarily for its ivory.

David pointing to a bullet hole

The carcass was however discovered by community herders the next day at around one o’clock, lying in medium size bushes that were fairly open, even though the poachers had covered the carcass with branches in an effort to hide it from being seen by anyone.

According to the reports received on the poached elephant, several gunshots were heard on the 17^th of April at around quarter to six. The matter was then reported to the KWS representatives, STE representatives, the area councilor and Chief who visited the scene immediately and confirmed that the animal was indeed poached.

When I visited the carcass this morning, it looked much older simply because the community living in that area had eaten part of it.  This made it more difficult for the carcass to be identified. The carcass was about 30-35 years old male.

Photo showing how the community had eaten the elephant.