Kruger Park reports first case of elephant poaching in 10 years

Officials at South Africa’s Kruger National Park have reported the first case of elephant poaching in the park in over a decade. The male elephant’s corpse,  stripped of its tusks, was found near the border with Mozambique.

Rangers fear an increase in elephant poaching due to continued demand for ivory. According to the African Wildlife Foundation, poaching is responsible for the death of between 25,000 and 35,000 elephants a year. The killing occurred on the same day that authorities in Hong Kong began a two-year program to destroy 29 tons of confiscated ivory.

NewsHour Weekend reports from Kruger on the cross-border battle already being waged with rhino poachers. The rhino poaching epidemic in South Africa reached a high in 2013 with 1004 recorded incidents.