61 Elephant Tusks Seized in Tanzania

{{Tanzania’s anti-poaching squad in Manyoni District has seized a total of 61 elephant tusks during the past seven days.}}

The head of the special task force, Mr. Robert Mande, said the seizure was a result of a systematic manhunt by the team for a period of almost two months.

“We embarked on a strategy to dismantle the poaching network in this area on February 1, 2014. Through the cooperation with the Anti-poaching Zonal Office for Manyoni, we managed to capture five suspects on Monday,” he said.

The suspects, including a village executive officer, were found in possession of 53 elephant tusks, weighing 169.7Kgs.

Mande said, “To get the tusks, the suspects might have killed some 26 elephants.”

Tanzania government, says it will employ some 450 new game rangers in the coming few days to boost the war on poaching.

{Tanzania’s Natural Resources and Tourism minister Lazaro Nyalandu inspects seized elephant tusks in Manyoni on Wednesday. Five people were arrested in connection with the haul.}