Hundreds of elephants to be carried across Malawi

Author(s)

The Star

Date Published
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Wildlife authorities in Malawi say they are transferring 250 elephants to a national park where the population has fallen significantly mainly because of poaching for ivory.

Fifty years ago there were well over 1,000 elephants in central Malawi’s Kasungu National Park. Today there are just over 100.

The new additions will be moved nearly 400km (250 miles) on lorries from Liwonde National Park in the south of the country, where poaching has almost completely stopped.

Elephant numbers there have increased causing conflict with local communities and the destruction of crops.

Some countries in the region, including Zimbabwe, are calling for a lifting of the global ban on the ivory trade, because the elephant population is growing and fatal accidents with humans have increased.