North Korea to receive African Elephants from Zimbabwe

[Guest guest]

The African Elephants of Delhi Zoo were also gifted by Zimbabwe.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/7720121/\

Zimbabwe-to-give-North-Korea-two-baby-elephants.html

Zimbabwe

to give North Korea two baby elephants Zimbabwean is planning to give North

Korea two baby elephants as a gift, but conservationists fear the animals

are unlikely to survive the journey from their African home.

The 18-month-old elephants have been captured from the wild and are

intended as a present for North Korean President Kim Jong Il from his

long-time ally, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

 

Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said the elephants were being held in pens

in the western Hwange National Park, along with pairs of zebras, giraffes

and several species of antelopes bound for North Korea.

Elephant experts do not think the young animals will survive the trip

separated from their mothers, and if they do survive they are likely to die

in substandard North Korean zoos.

 

“This new exercise has to be stopped. People under orders to do it are too

scared to speak out,” said Johnny Rodrigues, head of the Zimbabwe

Conservation Task Force.

 

" We fear a pair of endangered rhino in Hwange will also be included. "

 

Two rhinos given to the North Korean leader in the 1980s by Mr Mugabe died

only a few months after their relocation.

 

At the same time, other rhino given to the Belgrade zoo in the former

Yugoslavia died after contracting foot rot in damp and snowy winter

conditions there.

 

He said conservation groups were trying to find out from civil aviation

authorities when the airlift will begin and were lobbying for support from

international animal welfare groups to stop it.