Managers of Malawi wildlife park say elephants, crocodiles killed 7 people in separate attacks

JOHANNESBURG – The new managers of a wildlife park in Malawi say elephants and crocodiles have killed seven people in separate incidents over seven weeks in and around the park.

African Parks, a Johannesburg-based group, on Monday attributed the deaths in Liwonde National Park primarily to the fact that the reserve is unfenced and because poachers are illegally entering the park. The non-profit group, which took over management of Liwonde on Aug. 1, says the park's 80-mile (130-kilometer) perimeter will be fenced, which will take 18 months.

It says the dead include four people killed outside the park by crocodiles and crop-raiding elephants, as well as three poachers killed inside the park — one by an elephant and the other two by crocodiles. Another poacher lost his arm in a crocodile attack.