Tanzania Seizes 3,283 Tusks, 245 Poachers

Tanzanian authorities this year seized 3,283 elephant tusks from poachers and smugglers, park authorities said in a report released Monday.

Officials said 245 poachers were arrested between July and September, 161 of them in the world famous Serengeti National Park, in northern Tanzania.

Earlier this month, Tanzanian authorities banned the sale and export of ivory, in a bid to reduce poaching in the country, which officials say caused the death of 3,693 elephants and 97 rhinoceroses in the last seven years.