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ZCTF Report - December 2012
Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF)
December 20, 2012

Elephants exported to China

We have received a very disturbing report that on the 25th November 2012, 4 elephants were exported to Bejing. The elephants were transported by road, a trip that took 12 hours from Hwange to Harare Airport where they were loaded onto an Air Emirates aeroplane and flown to Dubai. This flight took 10 hours and from Dubai, they are allegedly being flown to Bejing.

The total weight of the elephants was 3,9 tons which implies they were very young and the handling was done by AGS. The fact that these elephants are juveniles indicates that they are being taken away from their mothers and family units are therefore being destroyed. It is further reported that another 14 elephants are being held in a boma in Hwange, also awaiting exportation in January 2013. It is said that the final destinations of the elephants are 2 zoos in China.

We are very concerned because we believe this constitutes cruelty to animals. Some elephants do not survive the stress caused by such long trips, not to mention the fact that the ones that do survive will subjected to a life of captivity in a Chinese zoo.

It is a well known fact that Zimbabwe has a serious poaching problem and to compound that, live animals are also being sent out of the country.

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