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Bumi elephants earmarked for hunting
Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF)
April 06, 2005

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Bumi Hills Hotel in Kariba was built many years ago on the understanding that no shooting of game would ever take place within 25 kilometres of the hotel and for the past 40 years, has strictly been a photographic safari area only. Due to this, the elephants there have become relatively tame and unafraid of human presence. It is said that they come as close as 2 or 3 metres to humans and residents in the area say that some of the matriarchs even bring their newborn calves to meet them.

We are now very distressed to learn that Landela Safaris have been authorized, presumably by the rural council in the area, to shoot 10 of the big-tusked matriarchs and 10 buffalo. The elephants are all the daughters of the famous Chura bull from Matusadonna and in view of their semi-tame nature, this is tantamount to shooting animals in a zoo.

The white community in the area immediately went into action when they heard of the proposed shooting, which was due to start on Monday, 4th April and took various desperate measures to try and prevent the slaughter. One lady made a number of spikes on metal plates and planted them on the hunting roads.

It seems that these wonderful people have now managed to prevent the shooting from taking place on Monday, and hopefully for good. We would like to thank them and highly commend them for acting so promptly to prevent what would have been a great tragedy.

Studies have shown that elephant calves normally can't survive without their mothers for the first 7 years and it is safe to assume that the 10 matriarchs earmarked for hunting would have at least 2 calves each. If the hunters had succeeded in shooting the 10 matriarchs, there is a strong chance that the 20 orphaned calves would have eventually died a slow painful death.

Game meat for celebrations
We have heard from reliable sources that the ruling party will soon be having a double celebration to rejoice in their "win" and to celebrate Independence. We are told that a lot of wildlife is going to be slaughtered for meat for this celebration and we are asking everybody to report to us if they see any animals being killed for meat. We would also appreciate photographs so please would everyone keep their eyes open and their cameras handy.

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