Ivory poachers slaughter herds of elephants in Chad including 33 pregnant females in the worst mass killing spree this year

Armed gangs slaughtered 86 elephants in a single week officials said



The International Fund for Animal Welfare said it was the worst mass slaughter of elephants this year



It is thought they were targeted by criminals who shot groups en masse

A year ago, 630 elephants were slaughtered by poachers in Cameroon

There is still a high demand for ivory despite an international ban



Poachers have killed 86 elephants in one week in a single central African country in the worst mass slaughter of the animals this year, officials said yesterday.

Armed gangs in Chad reportedly killed the elephants, including 33 pregnant females, before hacking out and stealing their tusks.

Wildlife officials said the killings took place last week near Chad’s border with Cameroon.

Shot en masse: Armed poachers slaughtered 86 elephants in a single week in Chad, a year after poachers slaughtered around 630 elephants in neighbouring Cameroon (pictured)

Céline Sissler-Bienvenu, of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said the slaughter ‘is evidence of the callous brutality demanded to feed the appetite of the ivory trade’.

She added: ‘Elephants in central Africa continue to be under siege from unscrupulous poachers.’

IFAW said it believed the killings were not reported for several days amid a dispute between local people and the government about the presence of wild elephants in the area.



Last year's killing spree: Armed gangs rode on horseback from Chad and Sudan to Cameroon's Bouba Ndjida National Park before shooting the animals, around half of the huge park's population

High demand: Mass poaching incidents were particularly common during the region's dry season when heavily-armed groups of poachers used military-issue automatic and semi-automatic weapons to launch coordinated attacks on herds

The organisation’s Jason Bell said the incident showed some regions of Africa faced losing their entire elephant population.

He added: ‘The poaching of elephants for their ivory is an issue of global significance, and needs a global response if we are to turn the killing fields of central Africa into safe havens for elephants.

Illegal trade: Selling and exporting ivory is banned in an attempt to protect elephants but remains in high demand especially in China and Japan

‘This cannot happen in a vacuum. Ivory-consuming nations – notably China – have to make a concerted effort to reduce the demand for ivory in their own back yards.

Otherwise, the battle to save elephants will be lost.’

Last week’s slaughter in Chad comes a year after poachers killed around 630 elephants in neighbouring Cameroon.

Armed gangs rode on horseback from Chad and Sudan to the country’s Bouba Ndjida National Park before shooting the animals – around half of the reserve’s population.

IFAW said incidents of mass slaughter were common during the region’s dry season, when heavily armed groups of poachers used military-issue automatic and semi-automatic weapons to launch co-ordinated attacks on herds.

Exporting and selling ivory are banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, in an attempt to protect elephants from slaughter.

But demand for tusks remains high in some parts of the world, including China and Japan, where they are used for carvings and ornaments.

The demand has made the trade lucrative for criminal gangs, which target elephants in Africa and Asia before smuggling the ivory on to the international black market.

The United Nations reported last week that around 17,000 elephants had been poached worldwide during 2011.

