FIVE elephants have been killed at Tsavo National Park and Taita ranch.
Four elephants were killed at Tsavo East National park on Tuesday, the same day President Uhuru Kenyatta burned 15 tonnes of ivory to mark the World Wildlife Day.
“KWS rangers found two of the elephants’ tusks were removed, while the other two were found with their tusks still intact,” a source in the Kenya Wildlife Service told the Star yesterday.
Another elephant died at Taita ranch on Wednesday after being shot with a poisoned arrow on its hind leg.
Taita Ranch director Renson Dio told the Star on the phone their herders found the elephant with a swollen rear leg, struggling to walk.
They called KWS officers, who removed the tusks from the dead elephant.
“It seems the elephant was shot elsewhere and came here to drink water at the dam before it died,” Dio said.
He said security has improved at the ranches following the deployment of KWS rangers, Administration Police and GSU officers.
Anti poaching crusader Jim Nyamu expressed concern at the poaching as he tours the Tsavo ecosystem to educate the community on the dangers of poaching.
“The poaching crisis continues to escalate and it really gets to me every time an elephant is killed,” Nyamu posted on his Facebook wall on Thursday.
“I will not be deterred. I will walk until the world knows that ivory belongs to elephants.”
The years 2011, 2012 and 2013 witnessed the highest levels of poaching since the crisis of the 1980s.
KWS director general William Kiprono last month said Kenya lost 47 elephants and five rhinos to poaching in 2007, 384 and 30 in 2012, and 302 and 59 in 2013.
Last year, 164 elephants and 35 rhinos were poached, representing a significant decrease from previous years.
According to the UN Environment Program, Africa was home to an estimated 500,000 elephants but has been losing 30,000 annually to poaching.