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Zimbabwe’s wildlife agency is planning to boost capture and sales of wild baby elephants to sell to countries such as China and the United Arab Emirates, purportedly as part of measures to

save the animals from drought, but sparking concerns about animal cruelty in destination countries, and illegal demand for animal parts for use in pseudo-medicinal preparations. Animal

conservationists have criticised the plans, noting cruel conditions in Chinese zoos and saying that taking the animals out of the wild will not improve the survival chances of their species.

Southern African nations have been hit by drought for the past four years. With little to no rain, natural water sources have largely dried up, hitting native fauna populations already

reeling from widespread poaching, largely to feed an illegal, and apparently unquenchable, Chinese market for animal parts such as ivory and rhino horn. Conservationists fear that the baby

elephants could be used to harvest their ivory, or spend their lives in zoos and circuses. Authorities responsible for the sale, however, say that national parks are already overstocked with

elephants, and that the money raised from the sales is needed to maintain the habitat of those animals left behind. In the past two months alone, more than 200 elephants have died after

water sources dried up at Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools and Hwange National Park, owing to the El Nino-induced drought that has left millions facing hunger. In 2005, hundreds of elephants died after

water sources dried up at the park, where animals mainly rely on an artificial supply. A recent report by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, or ZimParks, says elephant

calves are the worst affected by the drought as they are highly sensitive to soaring temperatures. In October, Hwange National Park recorded temperatures as high as 45 degrees celsius. The

ZimParks report said calves were also succumbing to hunger as they were unable to reach tree branches, dig up roots and uproot trees. ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo described the

situation at Zimbabwe’s national parks as dire, blaming it on the ballooning jumbo population before justifying the need to sell some elephants to China, among other countries, to raise

funds. “The biggest threat to the survival of animals is loss of habitat due to the climate change, drought and other things,” Farawo said. “Our interventions to at least save our animals

include de-silting some of the water holes, deploying more people on the ground to maintain the solar and diesel engine pumps we use for pumping water from boreholes, and also selling some

elephants to countries such as China and Dubai.” On average, the operational budget for the national parks is almost US$30 million annually, Environment, Tourism and Industry permanent

secretary Munesu Monodawafa said. The process of selling elephants abroad – banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to which both China and Zimbabwe

are signatories – has already begun. Last month, Zimbabwe shipped 30 baby elephants to China where they will be held in zoos that are notorious worldwide for the filthy, cramped and cruel

conditions in which animals are held and displayed. International ivory trading was banned in principle in 1990, under the CITES, a treaty that governs the international trade in wildlife

and wildlife products. The treaty seeks to ensure that international trade in listed species is sustainable, legal and traceable. The measures aim to combat the illegal trade in ivory, as

well as other animal parts such as tiger penises and rhino horn, which are harvested by poachers for sale into Asian markets as bogus enhancers of sexual performance. It is this trade that

is devastating wild animal populations across the world According to ZimParks, the southern African nation has pocketed US$3.25 million from the sale of 101 baby elephants to China and the

United Arab Emirates since 2016. ZimParks, an organisation that purports to steward Zimbabwe’s wildlife, justifies live exports as a means of sustainably supporting conservation and reducing

pressure of numbers on eco-systems. It argues over-population of elephants, in particular, damages habitats, puts pressure on other vulnerable species and leads to human-animal conflict

through the destruction of property and crops. Farawo said 33 people have been killed in recent months due to human-wildlife conflict, with 50 per cent of the deaths due to “human-elephant

conflict”. In 2018, Grace Mugabe, wife of the late dictator Robert Mugabe and renowned for her greed, was accused of smuggling ivory worth millions of dollars to underground foreign markets.

Animal protection charities have been angered by the conditions in which the baby elephants were held even before they were shipped to China. The Humane Society International (HSI) says

they were held captive at the Hwange National Park for over a year after being taken from their maternal herds. Elephants are social herd animals, and early separation from their mothers can

have serious consequences on the health of individuals. Many zoos worldwide, including Japan and Canada, keep elephants in solitary cramped zoos for decades; many of the animals show signs

of severe stress and mental ill-health as well as suffering physical trauma from standing on concrete and lack of access to water pools for most of their lives. The Zimbabwe National Society

for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ZNSPCA), HSI/Africa, Advocates4Earth, and Sibanye Animal and Welfare Conservancy Trust together tried and failed to have the most recent shipments

of the elephants stopped by the courts. Linda Masudze, an environmental and wildlife lawyer and founder of Advocates4Health, who acted in the case, said: “ZimParks is not justified. It has,

in fact, violated local and international laws by sending those baby elephants. Further, China is not an elephant range state for African elephants, so the decision by the government to sell

has been motivated by reasons that are anti-conservation.” Animal rights activists say the shipment of baby elephants to China also damages the country’s image as a tourist destination,

utilising its wildlife as a drawcard to build an industry that should become a backbone of its ailing economy. Under pressure from animal protection groups, ZimParks released a statement

saying that the sale of baby elephants to Chinese zoos was necessary to cover its operational costs. Each elephant fetched US$30,000, it said. In comparison, Botswana offers trophy hunts for

around US$45,000 per single adult elephant, while in South Africa, the cost is around US$60 000. Trophy hunting also undermines the image of these countries as wildlife tourism

destinations. “ZimParks may justify the sale because it does indeed raise funds but at what cost? China is recognised as the biggest market for the ivory trade, both legal and illegal, and

rhino horn, so personally it does not sit well with me sending elephants to a country where they are basically only valued for their tusks,” said wildlife activist Suleiman Makore. “It feels

like asking a hyena to guard your sheep. Just how much of their final destination do we know, where will these elephant calves end up, is it a zoo, circus etc? The only capture and

translocation of elephants that I would support is for restocking purposes” in African national parks, he said. Farawo says ZimParks has no option but to sell the jumbos as “the biggest

challenge that we are facing is overpopulation of animals”. Hwange National Park was created in the 1930s for a maximum population of 15,000 elephants but now had 45,000 to 50,000 elephants,

he said. “Which means this elephant population has exceeded its ecological carrying capacity,” he says.