http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
13 May 2010

There has been shocked reaction to a presidential decree handed down by
Robert Mugabe, that two of every animal species in the Hwange National Park
should be sent to North Korea.

The animals include two eighteen month old elephant calves, that Mugabe is
giving as a ‘gift’ to his Korean counterpart. Zimbabwean conservationists
have warned that the babies will not survive that trip to Korea, with
elephant experts stating that elephants so young cannot survive without
their family group.

According to the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, capture and spotting
teams have already been seen in the Park. There have also been reports of
armed men standing around waterholes waiting for game, apparently so they
can radio the information to capture teams. The Task Force’s Chairman,
Johnny Rodrigues, said in a statement that captured animals are being kept
in quarantine in bomas in the park. It’s understood that the animals’
removal and transportation to North Korea will happen very soon, although
National Parks authorities have denied any such activity.

Activist Simon Spooner expressed his concern to SW Radio Africa on Thursday,
saying: “It is relevant to the current situation in Zimbabwe in that one
immediately suspects that something irregular is happening.” He echoed
warnings by animal welfare experts that many of the animals being removed
from the park will not survive.

Zoo conditions in North Korea, where animal welfare is notoriously low on
the list of national priorities, are not up to the standards of taking on an
‘Ark’ full of wildlife. Two rhino, a male known as Zimbo and a female called
Zimba, given to the North Korean leader in the 1980s by Mugabe died only a
few months after their relocation. Other animals handed out as ‘gifts’ by
Mugabe have previously suffered horrendous, cruel journeys, often not
surviving. Another Zimbabwean rhino sent to the Belgrade zoo in the former
Yugoslavia died after contracting foot rot, in the unfamiliar and unsuitable
damp and snowy winter conditions there.

The cross-continent transportation of wild animals meanwhile is a
scientific, exact process that needs to be overseen by vets and other animal
experts. It’s believed that endangered animals, like rhino, will also be
part of the ‘gift’ to North Korea. Spooner on Thursday questioned what kind
of experts are on board with this plan, calling them “complicit in this kind
of illegal behaviour,” if they are involved.

Observers meanwhile have commented on Mugabe’s “God-delusion”, with him
decreeing, as God biblically did to Noah, that animals be rounded-up by
two-by-two. Some observers have called this a sign that Mugabe is heading
further into the realm of total megalomania.

The Conservation Task Force has also expressed its concern that a large
group of wildlife from the Hwange National Park has been transported to a
Mutare farm. The farm was apparently allocated to a senior official in the
Central Intelligence Organisation. The Task Force’s Rodrigues explained in
his statement on Thursday that no environmental impact assessment was
carried out to ascertain whether or not the habitat is suitable for the
animals.

Dupe.

I just have one thing to add!

It's a shame we can't send the Flood instead.

quote:

It's a shame we can't send the Flood instead.

but

At one time, long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, this clown was seen as an authentic African hero.

Elephant? In North Korea? Hell, they can't feed their own citizens. I predict a spike in Jumbo Soup and elandburgers.

Azzhat.

SIGH THEY DON'T CALL HIM MAD BOB FOR NOTHING

quote:

At one time, long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, this clown was seen as an authentic African hero.

Just shows how stupid people can be.

I can think of another country where the people were equally as stupid!



I know...I am a broken record...but I feel it is a song worth playing!!!

National Parks dismisses reports

Herald Reporter

The National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority of Zimbabwe has dismissed private and online media reports politicising the export of certain wildlife species to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The authority is processing an application from the DPRK authority for elephants, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, spotted hyenas and rock dassies.

The animals are destined for a zoo in the DPRK.

"This is a pure business arrangement with no directive from Government.

"The DPRK is paying for the animals as well as meeting the capture and translocation costs," Parks director-general Mr Vitalis Chadenga said on Friday.

He said with the exception of elephants, the animals sought by the DPRK were not endangered species and not in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species appendices.

He explained that Zimbabwe’s elephant population was on Appendix 2, which allowed for "trade in live animals to appropriate and acceptable destinations" as defined in a resolution concerning Botswana and Zimbabwe".

"Consistent with this resolution, Zimbabwe sent two scientific experts to DPRK for purposes of verifying the appropriateness of the destination," Mr Chadenga said.

He added: "We are satisfied that the recipients of the animals are suitably equipped to house and care for them."

Some media organisations last week claimed a Presidential decree had facilitated the deal.