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Elephant incident happened last year, but the culprits will face the law, KWS says

By Hilary Kimuyu November 20th, 2019 1 min read

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) on Tuesday said a video that went viral on social media showing a group of people slaughtering an elephant happened last year.

In a statement, KWS said the incident took place at Ncoorolboro-Imenti Forest on June 21, 2018.

According to KWS, the incident was reported as a human-wildlife conflict at the Meru station and KWS personnel were deployed immediately to the scene.

“On arrival they found a dead elephant on the farm. On enquiring what had happened, they were informed that two elephants had raided the farm after breaking through an electric fence,” a statement signed by KWS Acting Head of Corporate Ngugi Gecaga read in part.

According to Mr Gecaga, the animal had been injured so it could not walk and the residents took advantage of its immobility and descended on it.

THE CULPRITS

Mr Gecaga added that the clip was never availed to them hence the follow-up was inconclusive.

“However, now that the KWS is in possession of the video, the culprits will be pursued and arrested with help from local authorities.”

The video clip of the incident of the brutal attack on the helpless elephant sparked outrage from Kenyans on social media.

In the video, a group of men armed with machetes and axes is seen mercilessly attacking the lone jumbo as others watch from a distance.

At one point, a man is seen repeatedly slashing the animal on its hind limbs and cutting off chunks of its flesh while it is still alive.