Sad looking picture of an ele that had to be put down with multiple bullet wounds. Note the swollen front leg, swollen underbelly and penile seath (sp?) as well as the 2 bullet entry wounds near his shoulder. Culprits were not found.

That is sad and very painful looking. Any idea how old the wounds were? Was anyone able to determin how many bullets in total?

Hi Ann,
I think approx 6 or 7 bullet wounds altogether. He had more wounds behind the ear in the neck area, front leg, stomach, etc. It was eventually killed in a pool in a dry river bed so they could not check the other side for more bullet wounds. At least a week or so as infection had set in and the stink from the wounds were very strong.

The media in the US would report this as Hunters at fault regardless of the truth.

Mich,

That's a damned shame. No game animal should be made to suffer like that.

In which area of Tanzania did this happen? I have been hearing that poaching is on the rise throughout the country.

Sad.

Enough to make one hope the poachers weren't found because Jumbo had already ground them into fertilizer.

What caliber were they shooting this poor fellow with?

These AH's were probably using the ubiquitous 7.62X39 that's found in every shitcorner of the world.

I'm afraid that is all the info i have. African Game Dpts generally do not like to publicise these events as they openly claim poaching is under control and very unfrequent! The truth is a different story though.

Ivory poaching is on the upswing throughout the country. Particularly western Tanzania where over a million refugees have settled next to Gamne reserves and National Parks. The irony is this: Tanzania gets paid handsomely by UNHCR to host refugees on the condition that the hosting nation settles them near natural sources of food, water and firewood. So that means, forest reserves, National Parks (Katavi), Game reserves and Game controlled areas. The deforestation of one of these refugee camps is astounding when vieawable on google earth! Ak's abound in these settlements and there is a ready market for protein. Hippo, elephants are hunted for meat and the ivory is a by-product, albeit a very profitable one. Unfortunately, the Gov can not be seen storming into these settlements with the army and doing a house to house search for weapons, etc. It would not be PC. Not that they would find much anyways as these weapons are buried and hidden in the forests and retrieved by the owners only when they head out to poach.

To be honest.........I would also poach to keep my family alive if I have to live in a shit hole camp!

I do not always blame the the poachers but rather the fat cats that run their countries into poverty and they live as rich men! They fight wars from the comfort of their luxurious homes protected by a private army all in the name of even more money, while their fellow country men has to kill all that lives (even each other) for survival.

There is no such thing as a public servant in Afric