Outrage as Zimbabwe ships baby elephants to Chinese Zoos

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Animal advocacy groups as well as the global community are outraged as news of baby elephants from Zimbabwe being shipped to Chinese zoos became available. Despite strong condemnation from local and international communities, Zimbabwe is moving forward with shipping 30 baby elephants that have been held for about a year after being plucked from the wild to China where they will live their lives captive in Zoos.

Advocacy and conservation groups are outraged because of the tireless work they've been doing to protect and conserve elephants in Zimbabwe. The shipment of elephants was recently addressed at the most recent CITES meeting which outlined a near total ban on the export of elephants to zoos. Unfortunately, this near total ban commences on November 26th and officials were certain Zimbabwe would likely try to export more elephants prior to this date. In fact, army trucks arrived to remove the elephants from the national park they were being held at and employees had their phones removed to prevent pictures being put out of the elephants being picked up and transported. Clearly they are aware of the condemnation they are receiving which is why they would go to great lengths to keep things quiet.

Several groups attempted to prevent the exportation including the African Elephant Coalition, a group of 32 African nations committed to protecting and conserving elephants across the nation. The groups have been urging Zimbabwe to stop exporting elephants and join in on helping to conserve the species instead of continuing to work against elephant survival. 

One of the saddest parts of this whole story is knowing the life these elephants have to look forward to in China. Whether they're living in zoos or performing in circus', they will live a meaningless existence with absolutely none of their natural instincts available to them. Chinese zoos have a reputation for having some of the worst animal welfare regulations on the planet which is even worse news for these vulnerable baby elephants. Unfortunately, it appears they will live the rest of their lives in captivity with absolutely no hope for a normal life in the wild.

It's imperative that we continue to work towards the conservation of elephants in Africa before the species goes extinct. Despite this saddening news, strides continue to be made in protecting elephants in Africa. With the ban of exports of elephants coming into effect on the 26th of November, we must hope that this puts a stop to baby elephants being plucked from the wild and instead, sees them protected.

HAPPY VEG