Zimbabwe saw a new spate of elephant killings on Tuesday, renewing concerns on the use of cyanide as a damaging technique in the poaching trade. Five suspected poachers were reported to be in police custody and are being questioned over the cyanide poisoning of 11 elephants at Hwange National Park, a Zimbabwean wildlife official said.

National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokeswoman Caroline Washaya Moyo said in a statement that the first incident of killings started on Sept. 26, when six elephants were found dead inside the park with their tusks removed. The carcasses of another five elephants were discovered on Oct. 2, after poachers mixed cyanide with coarse salt and maize cobs as bait for the animals, Washaya-Moyo said.

Moyo added that three more elephants were poisoned by oranges laced with cyanide in a game park in Kariba, north of Zimbabwe, bringing the number of elephants killed to 14.

Hwange, the country’s largest national park, holds more than 50,000 elephants, which is twice its carrying capacity, according to the park’s agency. The park was also the home of Zimbabwe’s most famous lion Cecil, who was killed by an American dentist in July 2015.

Poachers formerly used rifles and other traps to kill Zimbabwe’s elephants but have started using cyanide to poison the animals and steal their tusks. Cyanide, which is widely used in Zimbabwe’s mining industry, is relatively easy to obtain.

In 2013, a global outrage sparked after the mass cyanide slaughter of 300 elephants in Hwange. Conservationists dubbed the incident as the worst single massacre in southern Africa for 25 years.

In a span of three months, poachers killed the elephants by lacing waterholes and salt licks with cyanide. Animals are drawn to them, given the dry season in the already arid area. According to Zimbabwe’s authorities, the cyanide has been planted by villagers who sell the elephants’ tusks for around £300 (AU$633.85) each to cross-border traders.

Other animals such as kudu and buffalo, which shared the same waterholes, were also killed from poisoning. Meanwhile, lions, hyenas and vultures, which fed on the animals' carcasses, also died.

In August 2015, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority reported that it received a significant volume of equipment worth US$2.3 million (AU$3.17 million) from the Chinese government to boost wildlife protection and anti-poaching operations in the Hwange and Mana Pools National Parks. The donation included several Sports Utility Vehicles, bakkies, trucks, graders, tractors and water pumps, as well as military boots, mobile communication radios, mobile solar power packs, backpacks, tents, flash lights and mosquito nets to be used by game rangers while out on patrol.

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