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| © Provided by The Associated Press This photo supplied by the Humane Society International/Africa (HSI/Africa) shows young elephants being held in a fenced area in the Hwange Game Reserve in Zimbabwe Friday, Oct. 18, 2019, being held for export to China. About 30 elephants, estimated to be 2 to 6 years old, were separated from maternal herds and held at Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park for nearly a year before being flown out this week to China where they will be held in zoos, according to the Humane Society International.(Photo HSI/Africa via AP) |
Zimbabwe has sent about 30 young elephants to China where they will be held in zoos, according to Humane Society International.
The elephants, estimated to be 2 to 6 years old, were separated from
maternal herds and held at Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park for nearly a
year before being flown out this week, the organization said.
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| © Provided by The Associated Press This photo supplied by the Humane Society International/Africa (HSI/Africa) shows young elephants being held in a fenced area in the Hwange Game Reserve in Zimbabwe Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. About 30 elephants, estimated to be 2 to 6 years old, were separated from maternal herds and held at Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park for nearly a year before being flown out this week to China where they will be held in zoos, according to the Humane Society International. (Photo HSI/Africa via AP) |
"We are left feeling outraged and heartbroken at this news that the
Zimbabwean authorities have shipped these poor baby elephants out of the
country," said Audrey Delsink, wildlife director of Humane Society
International. "Condemning these elephants to a life of captivity in
Chinese zoos is a tragedy. We and others have been working for months to
try and stop these elephants from being shipped because all that awaits
them in China is a life of monotonous deprivation in zoos or circuses.
As an elephant biologist used to observing these magnificent animals in
their natural wild habitat, I am devastated by this outcome."
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| © Provided by The Associated Press FILE -- In this Dec. 2. 2015 file photo Chinese President Xi Jinping, centre, admires elephants at a private game park in Harare, Zimbabwe. About 30 elephants, estimated to be 2 to 6 years old, were separated from maternal herds and held at Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park for nearly a year before being flown to China Friday Oct. 25, 2019, where they will be held in zoos, according to the Humane Society International.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/File) |
The Humane Society released a video and photos which it said shows
the small elephants a week ago being held in a fenced in area at Hwange
National Park.
Zimbabwean wildlife authorities did not comment on the statement.
The
Zimbabwe Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals had tried to
get a court order to get access to the young elephants, to determine if
they were receiving proper care.
Zimbabwe has one of Africa's
largest elephant populations. It seeks to be allowed to hunt and export
more of them to ease pressure on the animals' habitat and raise badly
needed money for conservation.
At least 55 elephants have starved
to death in the past two months in Hwange as drought dries up water
sources and overcrowding results in massive loss of habitat. The park
has a carrying capacity of 15,000 elephants but is home to more than
50,000, authorities say.
A Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management
Authority spokesman said the country "is currently capturing and
translocating live animals to approved appropriate and acceptable
destinations within and outside the country."
The spokesman,
Tinashe Farawo, told The Associated Press that Zimbabwe is still allowed
to export elephants, noting that the near-ban imposed by the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora,
or CITES, simply means there should be more consultations on the
suitability of the destination.
Zimbabwe has previously exported
elephants and other animals to China, Dubai, Europe and the United
States to raise money for conservation, Farawo said. It is not known how
much money Zimbabwe receives for the animals.
Conservation groups have expressed concern about the sale and treatment of the elephants.
In
its statement Thursday on its High Court filing, the ZSPCA said it was
part of a taskforce that included ecologists from the parks agency
tasked with inspecting facilities where the captured animals were kept.
The taskforce also inspected the foreign facilities of recipient locations "predominantly in China."
Following
two visits in 2016 to various facilities in China, the taskforce
concluded they were not ready to receive elephants and that further
inspections would be required before any animals could be shipped. The
ZSPCA said it was not aware of any further visits to China.
The
organization said that after being alerted that Zimbabwe's parks agency
was resuming exports of elephants late last year, its inspectors found
35 young elephants held captive in Hwange National Park.
While the elephants had adequate food, shelter and water, the inspectors noted that they were "all severely stressed."
The
ZSPCA statement said guards with the parks agency blocked its
inspectors on six occasions when they sought further access to the
animals this month after receiving "an unusually high number of calls"
from the public expressing concern that the animals were not in good
health but would be shipped to China.
The ZSPCA said it is
"gravely concerned as to the obstruction, secrecy and lack of
transparency" and is calling for "a full-scale investigation."
Most
countries that are parties to CITES have successfully lobbied to limit
the sales of elephants, to the dismay of some African countries that say
they are struggling with large numbers of the animals.
