ARUSHA, Tanzania, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian police have arrested a suspected poacher near the northern Tarangire National Park for possessing cyanide, which is increasingly used as a poison in elephant poaching.
Francis Massawe, Manyara Regional Police Commander (RPC), said Thursday that the man was arrested with the poison packed in two packets weighing one kg each.
Massawe said earlier investigation show that the poison was used by poachers to kill elephants in areas close to the national park, located about 100 km from Arusha.
"When we interrogated him, the suspect claimed that he was given the poison by one person who recently was arrested when poaching elephants using poison in the national park," he said.
"We are working closely with wildlife officers and task force rangers from Tarangire National Park in an effort to unearth the cartel of poachers, and those people who are behind the move," Massawe said.
The park is known for containing some of the largest elephant herds in Tanzania and Africa in general, which made it an easy target for poachers.
In recent years, poisoning has been increasingly used by poachers in Tanzania to bring down elephants for their ivory.
