footage shows young elephants being captured in Zimbabwe for Chinese zoos
Rare images of the capture of young wild elephants in Zimbabwe shows the rough treatment of calves as they are sedated and carried
The Guardian received exclusive images showing the capture of young and wild elephants in Zimbabwe in preparation, it is believed, for legal sale to Chinese zoos.
At dawn on 8 August, five officials were captured in the Hwange National Park by the Zimparks Authority.
These captures are usually kept as secret as possible. The Guardian understands that in this case the usual procedure was followed. First, a viable herd is identified. Then the operatives in a helicopter pick up the younger elephants with a sedative shot from an rifle. As the elephant collapses, the pilot dips in the vicinity so that the rest of the herd, trying to help the fallen animal, stay in line. When things calm down, a ground crew walks up to the sedated elephants, packs them and drags them to the trailers.
The images, a series of isolated clips and photographs provided to the Keeper by an anonymous source associated with the operation, document the time when the operatives are running on the mount, and then shows that they attach a young elephant. Elephants are seen gathered in a feather near the main tourist camp in Hwange.
Finally, in the most disturbing part of the pictures, a small female elephant, probably about five years old, is seen standing in the trailer. His body is tightly attached to the vehicle by two strings. Only a few minutes after being taken from nature, the animal, still stunned by the sedative, can not understand that officials want him to go back to the truck, so they hit her on her body, turn her trunk, pull her by his tail and repeatedly kicking her in the head with his boots.
In total, 14 elephants were captured during this time period, according to the source, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. The intention was to take more elephants, but the helicopter crashed during one of the operations. It is estimated that 30-40 elephants should be captured in total.
The elephants that were taken now are in holding pens at an out-of-boundary facility within Hwange called Umtshibi, according to the source. An expert who reviewed the photographs, Joyce Poole, an elephant behavior expert and co-director of the Kenya-based ElephantVoices organization, said elephants were "clustered", crowding because they are scared.
Audrey Delsink, an elephant behavioral ecologist and executive director of the Humane Society International Africa Executive Director, also reviewed the photos and images. I thought most elephants were between two and four years old. "In the wild, elephants are completely dependent on their mother's milk until they are two, and are not fully weaned until the age of five.
A number of the calves, she said, exhibited temporary flow - a stress-induced activity. "Many of the gestures indicate behaviors of apprehension and displacement - twisting of the trunk, low curved trunk, contact with the face, swaying of the feet, shaking of the head, movements of the ears, feeding of displacement, among others." Zimparks approached but did not comment.
The buyer of young elephants is a Chinese citizen, according to internal sources who asked not to be named. Last year it was associated with a case involving 11 wild hyenas, which were discovered in a truck at Harare International Airport, which had been on the road for 24 hours without food or water and which were in extremely poor condition stressed, dehydrated and emaciated and, in some cases, seriously injured.
for more details follow link
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/03/exclusive-footage-shows-young-elephants-being-captured-in-zimbabwe-for-chinese-zoos
The Guardian received exclusive images showing the capture of young and wild elephants in Zimbabwe in preparation, it is believed, for legal sale to Chinese zoos.
At dawn on 8 August, five officials were captured in the Hwange National Park by the Zimparks Authority.
These captures are usually kept as secret as possible. The Guardian understands that in this case the usual procedure was followed. First, a viable herd is identified. Then the operatives in a helicopter pick up the younger elephants with a sedative shot from an rifle. As the elephant collapses, the pilot dips in the vicinity so that the rest of the herd, trying to help the fallen animal, stay in line. When things calm down, a ground crew walks up to the sedated elephants, packs them and drags them to the trailers.
The images, a series of isolated clips and photographs provided to the Keeper by an anonymous source associated with the operation, document the time when the operatives are running on the mount, and then shows that they attach a young elephant. Elephants are seen gathered in a feather near the main tourist camp in Hwange.
Finally, in the most disturbing part of the pictures, a small female elephant, probably about five years old, is seen standing in the trailer. His body is tightly attached to the vehicle by two strings. Only a few minutes after being taken from nature, the animal, still stunned by the sedative, can not understand that officials want him to go back to the truck, so they hit her on her body, turn her trunk, pull her by his tail and repeatedly kicking her in the head with his boots.
In total, 14 elephants were captured during this time period, according to the source, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. The intention was to take more elephants, but the helicopter crashed during one of the operations. It is estimated that 30-40 elephants should be captured in total.
The elephants that were taken now are in holding pens at an out-of-boundary facility within Hwange called Umtshibi, according to the source. An expert who reviewed the photographs, Joyce Poole, an elephant behavior expert and co-director of the Kenya-based ElephantVoices organization, said elephants were "clustered", crowding because they are scared.
Audrey Delsink, an elephant behavioral ecologist and executive director of the Humane Society International Africa Executive Director, also reviewed the photos and images. I thought most elephants were between two and four years old. "In the wild, elephants are completely dependent on their mother's milk until they are two, and are not fully weaned until the age of five.
A number of the calves, she said, exhibited temporary flow - a stress-induced activity. "Many of the gestures indicate behaviors of apprehension and displacement - twisting of the trunk, low curved trunk, contact with the face, swaying of the feet, shaking of the head, movements of the ears, feeding of displacement, among others." Zimparks approached but did not comment.
The buyer of young elephants is a Chinese citizen, according to internal sources who asked not to be named. Last year it was associated with a case involving 11 wild hyenas, which were discovered in a truck at Harare International Airport, which had been on the road for 24 hours without food or water and which were in extremely poor condition stressed, dehydrated and emaciated and, in some cases, seriously injured.
for more details follow link
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/03/exclusive-footage-shows-young-elephants-being-captured-in-zimbabwe-for-chinese-zoos
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