Oct 26, 2015:
Another 22 dead elephants were found by park rangers in Hwange national park, all poisoned with cyanide, bringing the total number of elephants poisoned in the month of October to 62. It was unclear as to how many tusks were removed.
Another 22 elephants poisoned with cyanide in Zimbabwe reserve | The Guardian
Oct 14, 2015:
Park rangers found 26 more dead elephants in Hwange national park, all poisoned with cyanide. Again, some of the tusks were removed and some of the others were not.
Oppah Muchinguri, the Minister of Environment, Water, and Climate for Zimbabwe, said that the recent decision by the United States to ban trophy imports into the U.S. is causing the increase in poaching.
Bodies of dozens of elephants found poisoned in Zimbabwe | The Guardian
According to a CNN article, the way trophy hunting often works, a hunter must pay the Zimbabwe government a substantial fee ($25,000-$50,000 per trophy) to kill an animal, which brings much needed revenue into the country. With the U.S. ban in place, that source of revenue is considerably less, which has a negative impact on the Zimbabwe economy as a whole, which might explain why poachers feel the need to generate income by killing elephants for their tusks.
Source:
Kriel, Robert. (October 16, 2015). "Treasure or trophy? Legal hunt for big elephants leaves many conflicted". CNN. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
Oct 6, 2015:
Fourteen elephants were found dead in Zimbabwe's Matusadona and Hwange national parks, all due to cyanide poisoning. Poachers are putting the cyanide on oranges and salt licks. In some cases, tusks had been removed from the dead elephants, while in others they had not, which suggests that poachers may have been run off before they could complete the removal.
In 2013, poachers used cyanide to kill about 300 elephants in Hwange national park.
Source:
Associated Press, Harare, Zimbabwe. (October 6, 2015). "Poachers poison 14 elephants in Zimbabwe national parks ". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
More: