Poachers kill 100 elephants in Chad

The remains of 100 African elephants killed for their tusks have been found in Chad not far from Sudan's troubled Darfur region, conservationists said yesterday.

The discovery was made earlier this month by a team led by Mike Fay, a renowned conservationist and explorer with the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society and National Geographic.

"... his team discovered five separate elephant massacre sites totalling 100 individuals during a survey made between August 3-11 from their small plane," Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said in a statement. WCS said most of the animals had their tusks removed and more than 50 of them appeared to have been slain just days before the team found their carcasses.

The discoveries were made near Chad's Zakouma National Park, one of the animal's most northern ranges in central Africa.

"Zakouma is only about 240 kms west of the conflict area of Darfur and is in the path of recent rebel activity in Chad, thus security is low and borders are porous in this isolated region," WCS said.