14 Elephants Killed With Cyanide in Zimbabwe
Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe is in the limelight again. The park, once home to Cecil the Lion, now has dead elephants on its hands. Eleven elephants were poisoned with cyanide in the park and three more were poisoned in a game park in Kariba in the north of the country just in the past few weeks, wildlife officials told Reuters yesterday.
Park officials found six dead elephants on Sept. 26 with their tusks removed. Then, on Oct. 2, officials found five more elephants killed "after poachers mixed cyanide with coarse salt and maize cobs as bait for the animals," says Reuters. The three elephants killed in Kariba "were poisoned by oranges laced with cyanide." AP reports that the fact that eight of the elephants were killed without their tusks being removed suggests "the poachers were disrupted" during the hunt.
"No arrests have been made in all the cases and investigations are still in progress," Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokeswoman Caroline Washaya-Moyo said. Cyanide use among elephant poachers began in 2013. The chemical is "relatively easy to obtain" in Zimbabwe because of its use in the country's mining industry, according to Reuters.
"Elephant conservation groups said in 2013 as many as 300 elephants died in Hwange park after poachers laced salt pans with cyanide," says Reuters. "The government strongly disputed the figure, saying only a few dozen animals had died."
No matter the exact death toll in Hwange, wildlife poaching has become a massive problem worldwide. Despite heightened awareness of the problem, Louie Psihoyos, award-winning director of The Cove and Racing Extinction, says the “wildlife trade is second only to the drug trade.”
The killing of Cecil the Lion this summer sparked intense Internet outrage, but the problem is truly rampant. Many efforts are being undertaken to put a stop to the illegal trade, including commissioning fake elephant tusks and fitting them with GPS tracking devices, using drones to survey large areas and even using 3-D printers to manufacture fake rhino horns.
After Cecil the Lion's death, several major U.S. airlines announced bans on the shipment of lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo, otherwise known as the “African Big Five." And to crack down on the ivory trade, earlier this week California banned the purchase and sale of ivory, thus eliminating the third largest ivory market in the country and joining New York and New Jersey in banning intrastate ivory trade.
Still, the rhino killing spree during last month's supermoon and the recent brutal killing of a beloved elephant in Indonesia highlight how far we have to go in stopping to poaching completely.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Honeybees Face Global Threat: If They Die, So Do We
Solar-Powered Beach Mat Charges Your Phone and Chills Your Beverages
Hippie-Approved Volkswagen Electric Microbus Soon to Hit the Road
Volkswagen is bringing back its hippie-approved minivan but with a 21st century upgrade—the new I.D. Buzz is all-electric.
The concept car was first revealed at the Detroit Auto Show in January and now the German automaker is officially putting its reinvigorated Microbus into production.
Remove My Clip From GMO Propaganda Film
I have asked repeatedly to have my short interview clip removed from this film. The director refuses. He believes his film is fair and balanced. I do not.
I am often interviewed (see media) and hardly ever quoted incorrectly or out of context. This film is one of those rare exceptions.
37 of the World's Biggest Banks Fueling Climate Change
A report released Wednesday by Rainforest Action Network, BankTrack, Sierra Club and Oil Change International, in partnership with 28 organizations around the world, revealed that the world's biggest banks are continuing to fuel climate change through the financing of extreme fossil fuels.
Monsanto's Dicamba Problems Are Far From Over. Farmers File Another Lawsuit Over Drift Damage
Arkansas farmers filed a class-action lawsuit last week against Monsanto and German chemical company BASF, alleging that the companies' dicamba-based herbicides caused damage to their properties.
The plaintiffs claim that Monsanto and BASF implemented and controlled the dicamba crop system, releasing seed technology without a corresponding, safe and approved herbicide.
Zinke Targets New England Coral Canyons as Next National Monument to Open Up for Drilling
Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke, who recently recommended a reduction in the size of the 1.35 million acre Bears Ears National Monument to President Trump, is advocating for more drilling and mining on public lands and waters.
The former Montana Rep. told Reuters that the development of America's protected federal lands could help the country become a "dominant" global energy force.
EPA Gives Notice to Dozens of Scientific Advisory Board Members, Plans to Offer Buyout to 1,200 Employees
Dozens of scientists on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Board of Scientific Counselors and board subcommittees have been informed that they will not be renewed for their roles advising the agency, the Washington Post reported.
How Dead Is the Great Barrier Reef?
Worried about the future of the Great Barrier Reef? If so, you're not alone.
Many publications have already written obituaries for the reef, despite the fact that it is not completely dead. Thanks to this video via Vox for sounding the alarm on this critical issue, before it's too late.
California Scientists: Safe Level of Roundup Is 100x Lower Than EPA Allowance
By Olga V. Naidenko, Ph.D.
In a landmark rule with global repercussions, California state scientists are preparing to issue the world's first health guideline for Monsanto's glyphosate herbicide based on its cancer risk. The state's proposed safe level is more than 100 times lower than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) legal allowance for the average-sized American.
Tropical Storm Cindy Threatens 17 Million Along the Gulf Coast
By Bob Henson
A high risk of life-threatening flooding continues on Wednesday over parts of the central Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Cindy lumbers toward shore. The greatest flood threat will be across low-lying areas of far southern Mississippi and Alabama, according to the NWS/NOAA Weather Prediction Center. A second area with a moderate flood risk lies across far southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana.
