Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
ZIMBABWE has exported 35 elephants to China in a move aimed at raising funds for conservation programmes in the country.
In a statement yesterday, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority said the move was also aimed at managing the increasing elephant population.
The authority said it exported the elephants from Hwange National Park to China on December 23.
It said the exports were done after a team from ZimParks and a chief inspector from the Zimbabwe National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ZNSPCA) travelled to China to inspect facilities and conditions under which the elephants were going to live.
“The team visited and assessed Shanghai Exhibition Park, Beijing Wildlife Park and Hangzhou Wildlife Park. ZimParks was satisfied that the translocation process could go ahead. CITES and national rules and regulations pertaining to the live sales were religiously followed.
“Throughout the process, the Zimbabwe National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was involved. The 35 elephants that were translocated to China were escorted as per CITES requirements by a wildlife specialist, wildlife veterinarian and elephant keeper,” said ZimParks.
The authority said the translocation of elephants from highly concentrated areas to other local national parks is an ongoing process and is in line with the current national elephant management strategy.
ZimParks also said the relocation of elephants to other areas will be done in phases. “First phase will focus on Sebungwe region which has such protected areas as Chizarira National Park and Chirisa Safari Area. Assessment of some of the areas has been done in terms of ecological and security requirements,” said ZimParks.
The authority said the country is now turning to friendly countries to extract value out of its wildlife due to trade restrictions imposed by some countries on hunted trophies of some wildlife species and raw ivory.
According to ZimParks, the country has an elephant population of over 83 000, the second highest in Africa.
Hwange National Park has over 45 000 elephants against an ideal carrying capacity of 15 000.
Gonarezhou National Park has over 11 000 elephants against a carrying capacity of around 5 000.
This scenario has led to severe ecological damage that has affected other wildlife species. The high elephant population results in severe environmental degradation, loss of bio-diversity and increased competition for scarce resources resulting in some elephants being pushed to the peripheries of the park, a situation that increases their vulnerability to poaching and also heightens human wildlife conflict.
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