Kasungu is in Malawi but borders Zambia, and more than 260 elephants were translocated to the park more than two years ago in an operation spearheaded by Ifaw and African Parks, despite the glaring fact that there is no fence on the international frontier and much of the Malawian side. "It is with great concern that Ifaw has learned that five elephants have been found dead in Kasungu National Park between May and September 2024," Ifaw's statement read. It was also posted on Ifaw's site but not prominently. "Preliminary investigation by DNPW Malawi suggests the elephants were shot in Zambia between May and September 2024 as retaliation for crop raiding and fled back to Kasungu National Park injured, where they died slowly and painfully," it said. The five carcasses uncovered were three adult males, one adult female and a calf. Ifaw also noted that the carcasses were scattered around the park with their tusks, an indication that ivory poaching was not the cause. As Daily Maverick has previously reported from on-the-ground fieldwork in the region, rural communities in Zambia and Malawi have inhabited a landscape of fear and loathing since the translocation.