Africa Wild

Environmental Investigation Agency

Characterised by rumour and speculation, the saga of Zimbabwe's export of wild-caught elephants to China takes another turn ...

From the Zimbabwe Independent:

'Elephants exported to China on fake permits'

FAKE export licences from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority have been used to controversially export Zimbabwe’s wildlife to Asian markets since November 2014, the Zimbabwe Independent can reveal.

Copies of the certificates seen by the Independent show that a certificate with permit number ZW/0436/2015 was issued on October 6, 2014 to export four elephants valued at US$320,000 to Kinjian Safari Park in China.

On December 12, 2014, a similar certificate with the same number was issued to export eight elephants and two crocodiles again valued at US$320,000 to Taiyan Zoo in China.

Sources said the export certificates used for the two consignments were suspiciously valued at the same figure of US$320,000 even if the orders were different.

“There is fraud going on where cloned certificates are being used in order to siphon the country’s natural resources,” a source said. “There is no way two certificates can be issued with the same certificate number. Obviously, the person responsible for the cloning did a shoddy job.

“The evidence of the cloning is also clear on the value of the consignments,” said the source adding: “The security stamp numbers of the two certificates are the same, 1044788, yet these two documents were issued on different days.”

This week 24 elephants and 10 lions were exported to China from Hwange National Park.

... Other sources claimed the Zimbabwe government is using proceeds from elephant exports to pay a debt owed to an Italian shoe manufacturer based in Marondera, Song Lee, who supplies military boots to the uniformed forces.

Zimbabwe’s uniformed forces have since 2013 failed to settle a debt of close to US$4 million to Eagle Italian Shoes and Leather, a company which manufactures combat boots.

Full story at http://www.theindependent.co.zw/…/eleph ... rted-to-ch…/

Just seen this call by john Varty on Facebook:

John Varty
3 hrs ·
I call on everyone not to visit Zimbabwe. They are gearing up to catch 200 more elephant calves to pay off debt.i call on world bank to freeze their loans and any country giving aid to stop . Tread lightly on the earth. JV Images

How many shoes did they order if they have so much dept

Disgusting
The worst is that they know very well what the consequences on the poor animals are, after the last shipment, it is scandalous!!

New photographs and video exclusive to National Geographic suggest that two dozen young elephants flown to China from Zimbabwe in July are being mistreated and are slipping into poor health, according to analysts who have examined the images.

The elephants—many no more than two or three years old—are being held in at the Qingyuan quarantine facility in Guangzhou Province, awaiting transfer to Chimelong Safari Park, also in Guangzhou.

In late 2014, the elephants were taken from their mothers and families in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, where they were held in a capture unit before the airlift.

Several conservation and animal welfare groups have decried the export and confinement of the youngsters—wild animals recognized for their high intelligence, emotional capacity, and cooperative nature. The concerns about the elephants—and about the Zimbabwe’s controversial decision to capture the animals and sell them to Chinese interests—come at a time when elephants across sub-Saharan Africa increasingly are threatened by poachers who often kill elephants for their ivory, which is particularly coveted in Asia.

The images of the elephants were taken surreptitiously by Chunmei Hu, a project manager with Nature University, a Beijing-based organization. She has gone into the quarantine facility twice during the past three months to take pictures and video of the elephants. Her first foray went without incident. But the second time, she says, she was caught by security guards and taken to the local police station. Officers demanded her camera’s memory card, but she refused to give it up. She was later released, and the images were made available to National Geographic.

National Geographic asked Joyce Poole, who is widely viewed as the world’s leading elephant communication specialist and is co-founder of ElephantVoices, a Kenya-based research and advocacy group, to review the video and photos. Poole said that what’s happening to the elephants is “tragic and morally reprehensible.”

She said the elephants appear to be struggling physically and mentally. They’re “pushing, shoving, and tusking each other, and this is likely the cause of the larger abscesses and open wounds that are visible on a number of elephants.”

According to Poole, this abnormal behavior “is caused by their being held captive without adequate space and without older elephants to protect them and to intervene in disputes.”

Hu’s video appears to show two men with long poles scaring three calves from their outdoor pen into the adjoining indoor enclosure.

Scott Blais, CEO of the Global Sanctuary for Elephants, a Tennessee-based organization that aims to create a network of refuges for captive elephants, also analyzed the photos.

Blais said it appears that the elephants’ wounds aren’t being treated. He noted that urine and fecal stains are present on every elephant. “Due to their small confines,” Blais said, “it’s impossible for them to escape their own waste at night.”

Officials in China have declined to comment. But on Thursday, China’s Xinhua News Agency released photographs of about half of the animals at Chimelong. The elephants appear to be in better shape than those in Chunmei’s images. Caption information supplied by Xinhua said that “24 African elephants were imported from Zimbabwe … as a part of (an) international African elephant conservation program.”

On Friday, China President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama made a joint pledge to try to end the ivory trade, the White House announced. The move followed Xi’s announcement in May that China would crack down on that country’s domestic ivory trade.

Export of elephants is sanctioned under the Convention on International Trade in Wild Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), as long as the trade of individual animals or plants doesn’t threaten the long-term survival of the species. (See “Why It’s So Hard To Stop Zimbabwe’s Export of Baby Elephants”).

Zimbabwe officials have justified the sale of elephants to China on grounds that Hwange National Park has too many elephants and that it’s a way to help fund its impoverished park system.

Poole acknowledged that the capture and international trade of limited numbers of elephant calves doesn’t endanger the species as a whole.

But, she said, “it certainly causes enormous and life-long suffering to individual elephants. What are we, the international community, going to do to stop this outright cruelty that is being sanctioned by an international treaty? We need to either revamp CITES or start a new organization that will.”

Zimbabwe exported eight elephants to China in 2012, according to the CITES database.

"We are only aware of four arriving into China,” says Dave Neale, animal welfare director with Animals Asia, an advocacy group based in Hong Kong. “Three of these four are dead.”


Source: https://www.thedodo.com/baby-elephants- ... 99954.html

Why would they want an elephant park in China? Elephants never lived there They most likely do not even have staff, who know how to treat with the animals

One can't just move calves...SP learned that lesson many years ago, and then rather relocated family groups, and later bulls too. The animals are extremely intelligent, but need family guidance almost like humans.

Two Zim baby elephants die before shipment to China

Cape Town - Thirty seven baby elephants forcibly taken from their mothers in the wild in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park are about to be flown to Chinese zoos, despite an international outcry against previous exports.

A number of baby elephants from similar shipments in 2012 and 2015 died shortly after arrival and two of the elephants now awaiting shipment have already died, says the Conservation Action Trust.

In 2012, only four elephants of the eight survived the journey and another three died shortly after arriving in China, leaving only one lonely survivor. In September 2015, National Geographic reported that elephants from a shipment in China were being mistreated and were slipping into poor health.

Export of elephants is sanctioned under Cites regulations, as long as trade in individual animals doesn't threaten the long-term survival of the species.

"Past elephants from Zimbabwe sent to Chinese zoos have died or languished in deplorable conditions," says Iris Ho, programme manager for wildlife at Humane Society International.

"Sending wild African elephants to zoos in China is either a literal death sentence or akin to life in prison to these animals."

Johnny Rodrigues of the Zimbabwean Conservation Task Force said two of the recently captured baby elephants had already died from starvation and thirst due to neglect.

China has apparently ordered 200 juvenile elephants to be captured for a variety of zoos and safari parks across the country over the next five years.

"If these elephant captures and pending transfers to China are confirmed," said Ho, "there is highly likely diplomatic consideration involved in the Chinese authorities' approval of the import."

She pointed to the Chinese president's trip to Zimbabwe last year and the wildlife 'conservation' deal signed at the time.

Chinese president, Xi Jinping, said then that China would continue to help Zimbabwe improve its capability to fund its protection for its wildlife by donating equipment, conducting exchanges of experience, and buying its wild animals. It's understood that the capture equipment for the young elephants was donated by China.

According to the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group, there are currently around 46 000 elephants in Hwange National Park and another 6
000 in adjacent communal and safari areas.

If these numbers are true, it is hard to argue that the removals would have a significant impact on numbers but as elephant biologist, Dr Keith Lindsay says: "The bigger impact is on elephant behaviour. Taking calves away from the midst of families would be very disruptive and I would not be surprised if the adult females from the affected families were very frightened and angry about people on foot or even in vehicles," he said.

"If captures occurred in communal areas, the disruption could increase the incidence of human-elephant conflict and, if they were in the national park, they could make it harder for tourist operators to get close to elephants."

Lindsay, however, says these are only the practical considerations. "The real issue is the inhumanity of stealing offspring from mothers. We know elephants grieve for companions, including calves, who have died and the effect must be similar in the case of kidnappings," he says.

David Neale, Animal Welfare Director at Animals Asia, says information from within China suggests that both Shanghai Wild Animal Park and Yunnan Safari Park are preparing for the arrival of the latest batch of elephants with Shanghai getting 17 elephants and Yunnan 15 elephants.

According to Neale, there are a dozen or so other possible zoos earmarked to receive the elephants.