Poacher shot dead in Binga blitz
28/05/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
GAME rangers in Binga have shot and killed a suspected Zambian poacher just
days after another Zambian national was seriously wounded in a shoot-out, an
official said.
Rangers recovered 14 ivory tusks after the shooting on Saturday near Bimbi
4, an area of Binga in Matabeleland North close to the Zambezi River, Parks
and Wildlife Authority spokeswoman Carol Washaya-Moyo said.
Washaya-Moyo said police were working with their Zambian counterparts to
identify the dead poacher who was cornered by 16 parks rangers.
Rangers had increased patrols in the area since last week’s shoot-out with
poachers which resulted in George Chingandu of Kazungula in Zambia being
shot and seriously wounded.
In that raid, rangers recovered 22 tusks. Chingandu remains in the intensive
care at Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo under police guard.
Washaya-Moyo said on Monday: “Over the last week, a total of 36 ivory tusks
have been recovered; 67 rounds of ammunition; an AK rifle; a 375 rifle and
one round; a cell phone with two Zambian lines and cooking pots.
“The authority wants to continue to warn would-be poachers that illegal
entry into parks estates for the purposes of hunting illegally is suicidal.”
Zambian poachers cross the Zambezi in small boats and enter Zimbabwe where
they kill elephants, usually during the night, and they are gone by
daybreak – leaving behind carcasses with gaping wounds.
Elephant ivory is typically smuggled to Asia where it is carved into
ornaments.