Just over 120 vultures have died due to a mass poisoning incident in the Mahlangeni section of the Kruger National Park.

Majority of them are the white-backed vulture species which are classified as critically endangered.

SANParks and the Endangered Wildlife Trust say on Tuesday the poisoning surveillance and detection system was triggered, flagging suspicious activity in a remote section of the park.

Upon inspection rangers made the grim discovery. Besides finding the vultures they also found an elephant carcass which had been laced with highly toxic agro-chemical pesticides laid by poachers to harvest body parts for the illegal wildlife trade.

SANParks says this is the largest vulture poisoning event in Southern Africa – and the most extensive coordinated response effort and rescues to date.