Elephants exported to China in danger
January 6, 2013 in Local
ONE of the four elephants exported to China has died and conservationists
fear for the lives of the remaining three that are also reportedly in bad
health.
REPORT BY JENIFFER DUBE
There was an uproar from conservationists last year when the Zimbabwe Parks
and Wildlife Management Authority sanctioned the exportation of the animals.
In a statement yesterday, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task
Force, Johnny Rodrigues, confirmed that one of the four elephants airlifted
to the Asian country in November last year had since died.
He said the Asian Animals Foundation had informed them of the death.
“They [Foundation] say that the four elephants arrived at the end of
November 2012,” said Rodrigues. “Two went to Taiyuan Zoo, one of which has
subsequently died. The other two reportedly went to Xinjiang Tianshan Safari
Park.”
He added: “We are saddened and disgusted that these elephants have been
removed from their mothers and the African bush to live alone in a cold
unfriendly jail cell in a foreign country.”
Rodrigues said the weather in China is not favourable to the animals.
“We believe the temperature at the Xinjiang Tianshan Safari Park is less
than 20 degrees Celcius below zero,” he said. “It is highly unlikely the
elephants will survive in the cold when they have been accustomed to
temperatures of between 30 and 40 degrees.”
The wildlife authority last year confirmed exporting four elephants to from
Hwange National Park to a zoo in China.
Rodrigues insisted there was still another 14 elephants being kept in a boma
[a small enclosure] at the Hwange National Park waiting to be exported.
But the parks authority in December refuted the claims saying only five
elephants were currently in the boma and were constantly being assessed by
an independent veterinary official.
Both Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority public relations
manager Caroline Washaya-Moyo and Environment and Natural Resources Minister
Francis Nhema said they were not aware that one of the animals had died.
“I received an inquiry about it, probably from the same person who told
you,” Nhema said. “I have no clue about the issue as of now but I should be
having a report on Monday.”
There were concerns that the elephants had been subjected to cruelty as they
had to endure a road trip of about 800km from Hwange to Harare before being
airlifted.
Animal activists also felt taking the animals to a zoo would be stressful to
the elephants as they were not used to such captivity.
Exportation above board: Parks
The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority last month argued that
the exportation was above board and in line with the country’s laws, adding
that it had received requests for the purchase of elephants from potential
clients from France, Ukraine, United States of America and DRC.