It’s been a week of bad news in the animal kingdom, first the death of Cecil the Lion, then the news that one of the last five northern white rhinoceros in the world has died.
Well, I’m sorry to say there’s even more terrible news.
Five endangered elephants have been slain in Kenya by poachers, who were after their ivory tusks.
Rangers at Tsavo West National Park discovered the remains of the slaughtered elephants on Tuesday morning. They believe it was a female with her four kids.
The killing of these elephants is actually a more urgent tragedy than Cecil the Lion, as elephants are under far greater threat from poaching than lions, due to the demand for ivory.
Poachers kill them for their tusks, which can be sold in Asia for $1,000 per pound.
African lions are under threat, but more due to farmers and developers destroying their habitat than from being hunted by poachers.
And unlike many animals, elephants mourn the death of their friends and relatives, wrapping their trunks around the remains in memory. Some scientists also believe that they cry when sad.
Investigators are searching for the suspects, and have made two arrests so far, finding a hacksaw and bloodstained axe in one of the suspect’s homes.
