Shocking video shows elephant being hacked to death by villagers

Warning: graphic footage

An injured elephant was hacked to death by Kenyan villagers after it broke its leg while being chased from a farm.

A shocking video showing the animal being butchered by machete-wielding men was posted on Twitter on Monday.

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) later confirmed that the incident took place in Imeni Forest, near Meru, on 21 June, 2018.

The distressing footage showed the wounded animal being slashed with machetes, axes and a curved panga blade as it desperately tried to get to its feet.

Another video later showed the animal injured on the ground after it managed to crawl a few metres.

The elephant was caught when it broke its leg in a hole that had been left after a tree stump was cut out.

The video of the attack can be viewed below:

Villagers were upset when two elephants raided a nearby farm for food after breaking through an electric fence, according to KWS.

The wildlife organisation was criticised for not responding quickly enough after it arrived at the scene when the elephant was already dead.

The organisation said investigators were 44 miles away when they were alerted to the attack and made their way to the location as quick as possible.

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KWS has now launched a new investigation in the wake of the release of the video.

KWS said in a statement: “The video clip currently being circulated was not presented at that time, hence follow-up was not conclusive.

“However, now that KWS is in possession of the video, the culprits will be pursued and arrested with the help of local authorities.”