Elephant conservation news 31 October - 6 November
Farmers in the Darjeeling district of India have erected fences to protect their crops from elephants, reports DailyIndia.com.
The news comes in as it was reported that an elephant died of electrocution at Bhutiachang tea estate in Udalguri, but farmers in Darjeeling insist that their fences won't carry an electric current.
"It's only that elephants see the wires and run away," said farmer Hari Prasad.
The farmers have said that they have received little help from local forest department in deterring elephants from their crops.
Suraj Chettri, a forest official said: "We plan maintenance work after we get funds. Watchtower[s] and fencing are necessities and we plan to do that."
Police in Tanzania investigate ivory smuggling ring
Police in Dar es Salaam are investigating a suspected ivory smuggling ring, after discovering a haul of illegal elephant tusks, This Day reports.
Four men were arrested after being found with 33 elephant tusks which are thought to have come from elephants living in the 54,600-square-kilometre Selous Game Reserve.
The men were arrested on the outskirts of the city after a tip-off from a member of the public.
"This looks like a chain network of poachers and ivory smugglers at work," Dar es Salaam police commander Suleiman Kova told the paper. "Investigations are ongoing to track down any other members of the network.
"With enough cooperation from members of the public, we hope that by properly uncovering this network, we will have countered the problem of ivory smuggling in the country once and for all."
