Elephants are the new victims of Zimbabwean crisis.

Johannesburg: Zimbabwe's wildlife is being decimated by the impact of its economic crisis, conservationists claimed on Thursday.

Almost 2,000 elephants have been killed in and around the Hwange national park this year, the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF) claimed. It said the national parks department intended to authorise the shooting of 1,000 more by the end of the year.

Johnny Rodrigues, the ZCTF's chairman, said the information had come from ex-employees of the parks authority, and the killings were the result of a combination of hunting, poaching and an alleged culling programme that he believed was a cover for illegal ivory trade.

"The actual employees can shoot these animals in lieu of wages," he claimed. "It's the only way they can survive. With the economic meltdown, these guys are getting paid way below the poverty line. They shoot the animals and sell the meat to the locals."

Rodrigues said that under an "elephant population management programme" permits were being issued to hunting safari companies to kill animals in santuaries and adults with large tusks were being chosen, with their skins and ivory not being delivered to the wildlife authority's central stores.

International authorities, though, cautioned that a number of "exaggerated" reports had been made about the wildlife situation. Zimbabwe has one of the largest elephant populations in Africa, generally estimated at around 100,000 - although Rodrigues put the figure at about 45,000.