Tell Zimbabwe to Stop Capturing Wild Elephants and Exporting Them to Chinese Zoos!
- by: Julie S.
- recipient: Oppah Muchinguri, Minister of the Environment, Zimbabwe; Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife management authority (ZimParks); The Endangered Species Import and Export Management Office of the People's Republic of China
The Guardian has just obtained heartbreaking footage of five young elephants being captured in Zimbabwe to be sold to zoos in China. The elephants were captured in Hwange National Park by Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority officials in early August.
Last December, the Guardian reported that Zimbabwe captured and planned to ship 30 wild elephants to captivity in China. The "shipment" was delayed because the scales that were available were not large enough to weigh the elephants. Once this problem is overcome, the elephants will be exported.
The export of wild elephants from Zimbabwe is legal, but morally reprehensible and devastating from an animal welfare perspective. There is a high rate of death during capture and transport, babies are separated from their mothers and deprived of their mothers’ milk, and the animals live in quarantine for long periods of time once they reach their destination. If the animals survive, they will likely endure horrific abuse and languish in misery for the rest of their lives. A 2015 National Geographic report showed that elephants shipped from Zimbabwe to China were suffering from extreme distress, severe injuries, and neglect.
Elephants are highly intelligent, sensitive creatures that share lifelong family bonds. Mothers and infants who have been separated as a result of human interference recognize one another many years later and show signs of love and affection. Elephants enjoy bathing in rivers, foraging for food, and rolling in the mud - needs that cannot be met in captivity. It is an outrageously cruel act to rip families of elephants apart and force them into a totally unnatural existence.
It truly breaks my heart to imagine the suffering these elephants endure – both those who are shipped into captivity and their family members who are left behind in the wild to grieve. We must send a strong message that this barbaric treatment of elephants is unacceptable.
Please sign this petition urging Zimbabwe’s environment minister, Oppah Muchinguri, and ZimParks to stop exporting their elephants, and to take measures to join the African Elephant Coalition - an alliance of 29 countries that have proposed a ban on the export of African elephants outside their natural habitats.This petition will also request that Chinese officials address and end the nation’s demand for wild elephants. The elephants need your voice – please sign and share this petition today!
Dear Minister Muchinguri, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management (ZimParks), and the Endangered Species Import and Export management Office of the People’s Republic of China:
I am horrified by Zimbabwe’s ongoing practice of capturing wild elephants and exporting them to Chinese zoos.
Capturing and shipping wild elephants is morally reprehensible and devastating from an animal welfare perspective. There is a high rate of death during capture and transport, babies are separated from their mothers and deprived of their mothers’ milk, and the animals live in quarantine for long periods of time once they reach their destination. If the animals survive, they will likely endure abuse and languish in misery for the rest of their lives. A 2015 National Geographic report showed that elephants shipped from Zimbabwe to China were suffering from extreme distress, severe injuries, and neglect.
In the wild, it is natural for elephants to travel up to 30 miles per day, bathe in rivers, forage for food, roll in the mud, and play. It is impossible for elephants to express these behaviors in captivity.
Elephants are highly intelligent, sensitive creatures that share lifelong family bonds. Mothers and infants who have been separated as a result of human interference recognize one another many years later and show signs of love and affection. It is an outrageously cruel act to rip families of elephants apart and force them into a totally unnatural existence.
It truly breaks my heart to imagine the suffering these elephants endure – both those who are shipped into captivity and their family members who are left behind in the wild to grieve.
I request that Zimbabwe stops capturing and exporting its elephants under the guise of conservation, and instead invests resources in maintaining elephant safety and elephants’ natural habitat. Please take measures to join the African Elephant Coalition – an alliance of 29 countries that have proposed a ban on the export of African elephants outside their natural range.
I also request that China stop demanding wild elephants for the purpose of human exploitation.
I, and millions of people around the world, no longer want to see these magnificent creatures suffer in captivity.
Thank you for your consideration.
[Your comments]
Sincerely,
[Your name]
By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service.
You can unsub at any time here.
Having problems signing this? Let us know.