Elephant slaughter: Poaching could soon be punishable by DEATH

THE spectre of the noose will soon hang over poachers and traffickers wiping out Kenya’s precious wildlife.


Laws are being fast-tracked to make killing elephants, rhinos and other endangered creatures punishable by death.

Kenya has witnessed a horrific onslaught against its natural heritage.

Earlier this year, Sudan the last male northern white rhino died from natural causes, pushing his species to the brink of an extinction that was driven by illegal hunting over the decades.
With Kenya’s economy being bolstered by the thousands of global tourists it attracts to its famous wildlife reserves, the country has been pitched in a continuing struggle with poaching gangs targeting its iconic creatures.


Last year it lost nine rhinos and 60 elephants to poachers and now the authorities say they are ready to ratchet up the punishments to give the animals greater protection.

Currently the maximum sentence for poaching is life imprisonment, but the country’s tourism and wildlife minister is warning that the courts will be able to hand down the ultimate penalty.

Najib Balala has told the Chinese news agency, Xinhua, how new laws are being fast-tracked to conserve Kenya’s flora and fauna so that offenders of wildlife crime will face the death penalty in accordance with the laws of the land.

He explained: “We have in place the Wildlife Conservation Act that was enacted in 2013 and which fetches offenders a life sentence or a fine of $200,000 (£147,000).


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