Ape hunters killed at least 50 after ‘rampant poaching’ in Kalahari
The killing of at least 52 elephants in Kalakoram State in the northern state of Haryana is the latest poaching incident in the country’s southern region.
According to news reports, at least five people were killed in the attack on Friday evening.
A local government spokesperson told the Indian Express that the killings happened at a safari park and that the locals were allegedly involved in the illegal hunting.
“I can confirm that five people have been killed in this incident and that it is part of an organised poaching syndicate that has taken advantage of a lull in the poaching season to carry out killings,” said Shailesh Singh, deputy director of the National Institute of Wildlife Protection (Niwala), the local government’s animal welfare wing.
According a report by the Indian Times, a group of locals were suspected of poaching elephants, and the poaching syndicates were then allegedly involved with the killing of the elephants.
The killing of animals in the Kalakotas comes amid a series of poaching incidents in the neighbouring state of Rajasthan.
According the reports, a local elephant was found dead in a pond in Gwalior, while two others were killed by poachers in the town of Gurdaspur in the eastern state of Uttarakhand.
The Kalakore National Park in Haryanagar, on the border of Harnar, and Haryapur in Rajasthani, are two of the states where the most poaching incidents have occurred in recent years.
According of the reports by the Express, at the time of the killing, the poachers were in a group.
The park, which was closed to tourists, is home to a herd of about 30 elephants, according to officials.
