Kenya Releases 4 Bail Suspects in 18-Elephant Death Probe as Toxic Chemicals Seized
Updated
Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 24
Kenya Releases 4 Bail Suspects in 18-Elephant Death Probe as Toxic Chemicals Seized
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 24
Summary
Four suspects arrested in the probe into 18 elephant deaths in Kenya's Amboseli ecosystem have been released on bail, while investigators continue pursuing a fifth person.
Preliminary lab results point to a probable toxic substance, with earlier findings suggesting cyanide poisoning after elephants ingested pesticide-contaminated tomatoes from farms bordering Amboseli National Park.
Tikondo in Loitoktok sub-county—about 220 km southeast of Nairobi—yielded assorted substances, including chemicals authorities said may have come from a neighbouring country.
The tourism and wildlife ministry said the arrests and seized materials do not by themselves prove criminal culpability, and some wildlife experts have questioned the farm-pesticide theory because no other animal deaths were reported.
Fifteen of the deaths were recorded between June 24 and July 24 across Amboseli National Park, Kimana Sanctuary and Kuku Ranch, an ecosystem long strained by crop-raiding elephants and human-wildlife conflict.