Please Do Everything in Your Power to Stop the Sale and Export of Captured Baby Elephants.
At least 20 elephants from Zimbabwe have arrived in China after being flown there from the capital, Harare.
They were sold for around $40,000 (£26,000) each after their controversial capture last year.
The sale has raised money to help run the Hwange National Park and also slows the growth of the elephant herd, Zimbabwean officials say.
There are concerns elsewhere in Africa that poaching may lead to elephants becoming endangered.
The capture of the animals was criticised by the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF) last year.
In a statement it said that the elephants would be "sentenced to a life of inhuman treatment".
ZCTF chairman Johnny Rodrigues added that the transported elephants were between two-and-a-half and five years old - not old enough to be weaned.
The elephants are due to be taken to the Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou, southern China, which is home to 20,000 rare animals, according to its website.
Zimbabwe's Environment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere defended the sale, saying that "there is nothing irregular with this export, this is part of elephant conservation".
There have been concerns that Zimbabwe's growing elephant population was threatening the vegetation in the Hwange National Park and damaging the crops of nearby human settlements.
The authorities have said that exporting the animals is a better than a cull.
But the ZCTF disputes the official figures for the elephant population and has called for a scientific census before any more elephants are transported.
In November, 36 baby elephants were stolen from the wild and their families with plans to sell and export them to China and/or the United Arab Emirates. One of the elephants has already died.
These babies, all younger than 5 years old, are being held at Mtshibi Capture Unit as they face exportation. There are plans to capture hundreds more elephants for zoos abroad. The sale and export of these elephants violates the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which prohibits any export that is "detrimental to the survival of the species" as a whole and only authorizes the trade in live elephants from Zimbabwe to "appropriate and acceptable destinations."
It's not too late for the CITES Secretariat, which oversees convention member countries, to do everything in its power to stop the export and additional captures!
Helicopters reportedly swarmed elephant herds in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, firing guns over the heads of the elephants and causing them to scatter. Baby elephants who couldn't keep up were kidnapped.
They are all between the ages of 2 1/2 and 5 years old, a time when they are heavily reliant on their mothers. Female elephants stay with their mothers for their entire lives, while males stay with their matriarchal herds well past 10 years of age before joining a herd of juvenile males.
In addition to the cruelty and heartbreak of tearing apart a mother and child, disruptions of this kind are detrimental both to the species as a whole and to individual elephants. Young elephants taken from their mothers are often so distraught that they refuse food and drink and die as a result.
These innocent and terrified babies have been traumatically torn away from their families and natural habitat, only to be sold to the highest bidder and sentenced to a life of abuse and captivity.
Please sign a petition urging the CITES Secretariat to do everything in its power to stop the additional capture of innocent elephants and to ensure that those which are currently slated to be exported are quickly rehabilitated and released.
Please do everything in your power to stop the sale and exportation of these elephants, which will be detrimental to the baby elephants and their herds and imperil the species.
Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) only authorizes the trade in live elephants from Zimbabwe to "appropriate and acceptable destinations."
The kidnapped baby elephants are between the ages of 2 1/2 and 5 years old, a time when they are heavily reliant on their mothers. Being torn away from their families is not only traumatic but also life-threatening. Indeed, one of the captured elephants has already died.
Elephants are highly social and emotionally complex animals who live in herds. Female elephants stay with their mothers for their entire lives, while males stay with their matriarchal herds well past 10 years of age before joining a juvenile male herd.
China and the United Arab Emirates are not appropriate and acceptable destinations for such young elephants, who will be separated from their mothers and matriarchal herds forever. The sale and export of the kidnapped elephants also violates Article IV(2)(a) of CITES because disruptions in the relationship between young elephants and their mothers and matriarchal herds are "detrimental to the survival of the species" as a whole.
The species' existence is already in peril, and the kidnapping of 36 young elephants only further endangers the declining population. With rumors of planned captures in the works that would orphan hundreds more baby elephants, there is no time to waste.
Zimbabwe has not taken action despite an international outcry. You are in a unique position of influence to declare that Zimbabwe, along with China and the United Arab Emirates, is violating CITES and imperiling the survival of protected elephants.
Please do what is right for animal welfare and for conservation by doing everything in your power to stop the additional capture of innocent elephants and to ensure that Elephants are never exported again.
ZIMBABWE ELEPHANT NURSERY
"Africa currently has a population of about 450 000 elephants, according to IUCN. African Elephants are facing possible extinction within the next 20 years due to an upsurge in the global ivory trade. The crisis is driven by demand for ivory from a rapidly growing and increasingly affluent middle class in China and South East Asia, where ivory is regarded as investment.
For many, ivory carvings represent the ultimate symbol of status and success. To supply this global demand, an elephant is killed, illegally, every 15 minutes. In 2011, 25000 elephant were illegally killed. In 2012, 22 0000 were killed. In 2013 it is estimated that 30 000 were killed.
At this rate of culling, half the elephants in Africa could be gone within a decade. Whilst the elephants in Central and East Africa are bearing the brunt of the poaching problem, Zimbabwe is facing an imminent crisis in poaching. The eyes of the world are now on the Southern African region’s Governments and conservationists to see how positively they will react to this situation.
The ZEN project is one way that we can be seen to be “paying it forward”, both as a private organization and as a National initiative.
Wild is Life Trust and Aware Trust believes in the philosophy that every individual is important.
STATEMENT
To establish an Elephant Orphanage Nursery in the region of Greater Harare, at the Wild is Life Trust, for multiple milk dependent Elephant calves. Only Elephant calves that are rescued due to causes such as poaching, drought, Parental abandonment/death, etc. will be candidates for this project.
No elephant will be willfully or purposefully taken from the wild, without genuine cause for rescue.
This is a pioneer project for Zimbabwe. This project has been successfully implemented in 2 other African Countries.
OBJECTIVES
a) To hand rear milk dependent orphaned elephant calves, using a specialized formula and husbandry techniques to ensure the maximum survival of the calves
b) When the elephant calves are deemed old enough, at around 4/5 years, they are
re-located to a larger, well protected area, where the wild integration process will be implemented.
c) To assist ZimParks with their Elephant conservation initiatives, by providing material support, where possible.
d) To raise awareness about Elephants in Africa
e) To educate young people about African Elephants
f)
Research and Capacity building in the hand rearing of African Elephant Calves
Moyo – the first Elephant Calf
Moyo was rescued from the Musango area, in February 2014, where he was found abandoned by his herd.
Considerable efforts were made to find his natal herd, but there were no Elephants in the area. It is believed that Moyo was a premature calf, and was not able to keep up with the herd, who were under pressure from poaching in the nearby OmayWildlife area.
Moyo weighed 56kg on arrival. A normal elephant calf should weigh 90-100kg. The first few weeks of his life were very challenging indeed and it is a miracle, as well as a testament to his fighting spirit, that Moyo survived. Moyo is now 5 months old, weighing 90kg and drinking 18 litres of specialized formula per day.
Elephant Calf Husbandry
Elephant calves require intensive and specialized husbandry practice. Each calf required a minimum of four handlers, each working on eight hour shifts. The calf is never left alone and is cared for around the clock.
The diet is a specialized formula, devised by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. This includes S26 Gold milk powder, coconut oil and a large variety of vitamin and mineral supplements. The Elephant calves are housed in a heated stable, with a mattress to prevent chafing. The Handlers also require a bed so that they can sleep with the babies. Care is taken to prevent sunburn, chafing, dry skin and parasites. Enrichment and learning are vital aspects of the daily life of an elephant calf.
Financial Assistance
A project of this nature requires large amounts of funding. In order to further develop the project and to fund the daily needs of Moyo, we need your support! Large or small, in cash or kind … Elephantastic appreciation from us all!
Account details:
Peacey Estates T/A Wild is Life Grand
NMB Bank Limited, Zimbabwe
Account Number: 310102342
Branch Code: 11108
Branch: Southerton
Email: roxy@wildlislife.org
Ecocash your donation to: + 263 772 200 132
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