AFP Yahoo News 23 Jul 11;
Authorities in Zimbabwe have arrested 10 people for poaching and unlawful possession of elephant tusks and rhino horns that they were suspected of selling to Chinese buyers, police said Friday.
The suspects, including four former soldiers and four farmers, were arrested in two separate operations and were apparently targeting Chinese buyers.
"I can confirm the arrests but I can't comment further," national police spokesman Oliver Mandipaka told AFP.
In the first operation, six suspects were found with two fresh rhino horns weighing 4.6 kilogrammes (10 pounds) when they fell into a police trap at a local shopping mall, according to the state-owned Herald newspaper.
The horns were valued at $120,000 (83,300 euros) by the national wildlife authorities.
The other group was arrested while trying to sell four elephant tusks in the capital, the paper said, adding that both groups had approached a Chinese businessman trying to sell him the horns.
Poaching for rhino horns and elephant tusks is a major problem in Zimbabwe, where wildlife management deteriorated during the country's decade-long economic crisis.
Conservation groups have built protective pens for the targeted black rhino, with only a few hundred remaining in the country.
Parks authorities say poachers have killed at least 10 rhinos since the beginning of the year.
