HARARE Animal rights campaigners have launched an international campaign to stop the planned export of live elephants and other animals from Zimbabwe to North Korea as the groundswell of public outrage continued against the trade. Zimbabwe has agreed to export male and female elephants, giraffes, jackals, zebras, catfish, civet, blue monkey and spotted hyena captured from Hwange National Park to North Korea whose reclusive leader Kim Jong-il enjoys cordial relations with President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu (PF) party.
Head of the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA), Vitalis Chadenga said last week that the export of the animal species to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) was a purely business transaction.
But animal rights groups are determined to stop the trade, demanding the cancellation of the deal for the sake of the animals, the park and the country.
United Kingdom-based group Born Free last week launched an international petition that it plans to send to the Zimbabwean authorities.
Born Free calls on the government of Zimbabwe to abandon these planned transfers, for the sake of the animals, the Park, and the country as a whole, the group said.
It also urged animal lovers to send their concerns directly to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai via his official website.
Norway-based animal rights group Elephant Voices also launched a petition urging the ZPWMA to stop the planned export.
Animal rights groups fear for the safety of the animals, two of which are believed to be 18-month-old elephants.
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