Today, as governments of the world meet at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Johannesburg to draw up rules governing the trade in wild animals, their citizens march in unison to stand up for wildlife. Network for Animals will be amongst the walkers in London and Cape Town, and have helped organize and finance the march in Edinburgh.
It is a sad parallel that as so many stand up to bring safety to the animal kingdom, the government of Zimbabwe is reaping utter terror. Wicked and evil; those are the words to describe their action. Last year Network for Animals led an international outcry about their export of 24 baby elephants to China. This year they are doing even worse: 40 elephants all under the age of six have already been captured and more are being taken from their mothers at the rate of five a day. They are being held in a secret area in the Hwange National Park.
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Sign our petition pressuring CITES to ban the export of elephants from Zimbabwe to China
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As well as 40 baby elephants, Zimbabwe has so far captured eight lions, four giraffe, eight hyenas and an unknown number of antelopes. Their new owner is the Chimelong ‘Safari Park’, in China where elephants are forced to do tricks in a circus auditorium. Some of the captured animals – those with large horns – have been beheaded so that they may be mounted and sold as trophies. Recently Zimbabwe announced it was going to ‘relocate’ 500 elephants within the country. Now we know where they are really going – to a life of hell. We have to fight this evil.
CITES meetings happen only once every three years, so this is a rare chance to take action. Please sign our petition to CITES telling its leaders to ban the export of baby elephants. If two thirds of the governments agree then the babies can be saved. Take action today.
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Sign our petition pressuring CITES to ban the export of elephants from Zimbabwe to China
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