(Last Updated on January 10, 2016 by Editor)
ZIMBABWE – Zimbabwe thinks animals are resources.
The African country is planning to round up wild baby elephants and sell them to China.
According to Quartz, calves will be will be taken from their herd in the wild and be kept in confinement until they are tamed and shipped to zoos and tourist facilities in China.
“We are happy that young African animals have been well accommodated here in China… We are willing to export more in the years to come to help the preservation of wild animals,” Zimbabwe’s minister of environment Oppah Muchinguri told China Daily.
The problem is China is a country that doesn’t really have an adequate animal protection law. It’s so outdated it even has the phrase “developing and rationally utilizing wildlife resources”
Not to mention it also has the reputation for being the world’s largest consumer of trafficked ivory which leads to 30,000 elephants being illegally poached every year.
The Washington Post reports that last year, about 100 elephants were sold to China for about $40,000 each and 24 of them show signs of abuse.
Zimbabwe believes selling these elephants will help with the weak economy and intense drought.
Or are they trying to please the country’s biggest foreign investor?
RYOT NOTE
Due to the growing demand for ivory, one elephant is killed by poachers every 15 minutes. Share this story with your friends. Then, check out RYOT’s Elephant Cause Page for information on how to save one of the world’s most majestic mammals from the illegal ivory trade. Also, leave a comment below to let us know what you think of this story.