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Four arrested in southern Tanzania for killing two elephants

Xinhua, April 28, 2017 Adjust font size:

Authorities in southern Tanzania on Friday said they have arrested four people suspected to be poachers for allegedly killing two elephants, and removing its tusks.

Henry Mwaibambe, Assistant Commissioner of police (in charge of anti-poaching), said the killings of the two jumbos occurred in a remote village of Wenje in Tunduru District.

Wenje is one of the villages which are close to the Selous Game Reserve -- one of the largest fauna reserves in the world, located in the south of Tanzania.

He said that preliminary investigation shows that the suspected poachers killed the two elephants on April 18, this year, and the elephant carcasses were found in an area close to the game reserve.

"Worse enough, poachers managed to pull off the elephant tusks to unknown destination," Mwaibambe said in a telephone interview.

He added that the killed jumbos were strayed from the game reserve - about three times the size of South Africa's Kruger National Park, and twice the size of the Serengeti National Park.

He said that the arrested suspected poachers will be taken to court soon after accomplishing investigation so that the law takes its course.

Robert Mande, Assistant director of Tanzania Anti-Poaching who took part in the operation against wildlife poaching in the area described the elephant killings as a challenge to Tanzania's wildlife conservation and country's tourism sector. Endit