WEDNESDAY, 3.00PM
TWO elephants have been killed in Namibia since the signing of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) agreement on resuming the ivory trade last month.
Conservation officials in the West Caprivi Game Park suspect local villagers, because the elephants appear to have been killed for their meat, not their tusks. Officials found a bush camp with wooden structures on which the poachers had planned to sun-dry the meat to make biltong. The tusks were still lying alongside the meat.
Namibia is obliged to enforce strict anti-poaching measures to meet criteria laid down last month by Cites. Last week, the government said anti-poaching safeguards were adequate and did not require upgrading. This week, park wardens are saying they lack the manpower to patrol the Botswana border and stop cross-border poaching.