The WWF has raised the alarm over plummeting elephant populations in Mozambique after an aerial survey showed ivory poaching is decimating herds in the country.
Between 480 and 900 elephants died in the northern Querimbas reserve between 2011 and 2013 according to a recent aerial study commissioned by the WWF.
“The landscape survey of the Quirimbas National Park conducted in late 2013 found that almost half the elephants sighted from the air were carcasses,” it said in a statement.
Most were likely killed by ivory poachers, it added, calling for “urgent action and ongoing commitment to combat these illegal activities.”
According to the park’s administrators, 80 per cent of the elephants killed in the northern coastal park are young animals who are less cautious than the adults.
“The ivory market has gone up. Everyone is trying to get ivory,” park administrator Chande Baldeu told AFP…
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