PHNOM PENH, Cambodia _ Two Cambodian men have been arrested for allegedly poisoning an elephant and sawing off its tusks to sell on the black market.

The male elephant, which was chained to a tree by its owner in Rattanakiri province, about 325 kilometres northeast of the capital Phnom Penh, was found dead in March 2007.

Police at the time said the alleged killers had doused jack fruit, a tropical fruit eaten by elephants, with rat poison.

The tusks of the 62-year-old elephant, measuring almost one metre each, had been removed.

The provincial deputy police chief Hor Ang said the two suspects, Men Rattana, 42, and Klem Sam Ouen, 27, were arrested this week, almost a year after the animal's killing.

They were charged with intentional destruction of private property because the elephant belonged to a Cambodian family and was not living in the wild. If convicted, they face up to three years in prison.

Elephants are the main means of transport for Cambodia's hilltribes, the ethnic minorities that live in the country's northeastern highlands.

Conservationists have said that the end of years of armed conflict in Cambodia has allowed the elephant population and other wildlife to repopulate Cambodian jungles. © 2007 The Canadian Press