An Update and How You Can Help

In spite of a global outcry surrounding Zimbabwe’s capture and export of approximately 80 baby elephants, the country’s President Robert Mugumbe is not changing his mind. According to National Geographic’s primary source in Zimbabwe, the young elephants, between two and four years old, captured in November of 2014, are being held in a capture facility in Hwange National Park. With heavily armed personnel and rangers armed with AK 47s, the area is on ‘lock down’. Photos of the captive calves recently made public show clear signs of distress and trauma as analyzed by elephant experts, including IDA’s Elephant Scientist, Dr. Toni Frohoff.

It is widely presumed that the buyers of these young elephants would be mostly zoos and safari parks in China and The United Arab Emirates. France was originally also cited as a buyer; yet French authorities have cancelled plans to purchase up to 20 live elephants from Zimbabwe due to concerns from global animal protection groups. If Zimbabwe won’t stop this atrocious kidnapping of elephant children from their families, then the countries that would be financially supporting it need to stop supporting it.

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