Elephant slaughter

After decimating the Tanzanian elephant population, poachers have now killed half of the elephants in neighboring Mozambique in just five years.  A survey by Mozambique’s government and the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society found that the herd has shrunk from 20,000 in 2010 to just over 10,000 animals today.  “This decline is due to rampant elephant poaching in the country’s most important elephant populations,” said the society.  Mozambique criminalized the killing of elephants only a year ago, and activists suspect that poachers have simply paid off police and border guards.