Zimbabwe was once a example of socialist progress, now its economy in tatters, the corrupt regime of Robert Mugabe constantly hits new moral lows in an endless search for mo' money. Their latest despicable scheme: selling baby elephants to China. The photos are too gross to be displayed. After a hundred thousand elephants have been killed by poachers in Africa, Zimbabwe authorities have taken 80 eighty elephant calves from their mothers and families in the wild and imprisoned them in two heavily guarded compounds in Hwange National Park, where they await shipment to China. Their fate in that country is unknown. Two distressed calves are thought to have already died. Both government incredibly deny the traffic in elephant babies. According to the international elephant protection group, Global Action Ending Wild Capture that has been reliably informed China has purchased 200 calves. National Geographic also confirms the compounds exist. The information and photos comes from a reliable inside source. Elephant experts who have examined the photos say the young animals postures and expressions indicate they are frightened and undernourished.
It is obvious to a compansionate human being that an extremely intelligent and social animal may not suvive being kidnapped from its family and subjected to deprivations and cruelty associated with animal trafficking. The Zimbabwe government considers the shipment into slavery a legitimate exploitation of a natural resource and a better alternative to culling according to a Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate paper. Officials think elephant calves can be sold for $40,000 to $60,000 each. Elephants Without Borders, another conservation group, admantly opposes the sales, calling it a "gross violation of animal welfare". Chinese zoos, circuses and tourist attractions are clamoring for their own elephants. Elephants are trained to perform through 'negative reinforcement'. Translated into plain English that means beatings. On average Asian elephants die before they reach the age of eighteen, decades sooner than a wild elephant. If this is such a normal use of a natural resource, why is Zimbabwe hiding these animals in a national park, and denying the transactions with China? The answer is obvious as it is cruel.