South Sudan: South Sudan Says 500 Elephants May Have Died During Two-Year War

Feb 9, 2016 | Okech Francis, Bloomberg
View Original

At least 500 elephants may have been killed during South Sudan’s two-year civil war, including 15 slaughtered in one day last month, the African nation’s wildlife service said. The oil-producing country’s elephants, which numbered 5,000 in a 2012 nationwide survey, are still at heavy risk from poaching, said Major-General Philip Chol Majak, the agency’s director-general, a year after warning of severe losses to wildlife caused by civilians, rebels and government forces. The death toll is based on reconnaissance flights and the service will perform a full headcount when conflict subsides, he said Monday in an interview in the capital, Juba.