World outrage at planned export of baby elephants from Namibia

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harrys
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#ShockWildlifeTruths: Namibia flouts international law to export baby elephants

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#ShockWildlifeTruths: Namibia flouts international law to export baby elephants
2017-05-25 14:35 - Melissa Reitz


Cape Town - Namibia’s environmental authorities confirmed that they have issued the necessary CITES (Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species) export permit for the sale of five wild elephant calves by Eden Game Farm in the Grootfontein district to a zoo in Dubai.

Namibia’s elephants are listed on CITES Appendix ll with a restrictive annotation which limits the sale of live elephants to in situ conservation projects.

“By sanctioning this sale they are undermining this agreement. The proposed transfer to a zoo in Dubai clearly fails to respect this restriction, so it would appear that such a sale would be in breach of the annotation, and therefore might fall foul of international rules,” says a letter addressed to the CITES Secretariat by elephant expert , Michele Pickover.

According to Namibia’s environmental department the elephant export is allowed under CITES regulations as long as the trade doesn’t threaten the long term survival of the species and that the elephants would not be used primarily for commercial purposes.

But elephant specialists disagree: “With their elephant population listed under CITES Appendix II, their attempt to possibly exploit the text stipulated by the annotation and restrictions regarding live trade of elephants under this listing is unacceptable and must be challenged,” says Humane Society International’s, Audrey Delsink.

“If approved, this sets a dangerous precedent; both in how elephants are managed and how international treaties may be manipulated, and must be rectified."

Pickover also urged the secretariat to confirm the legal parameters of Namibia’s trade in elephants: “Can the Secretariat confirm that the intention of the annotation attached to the Appendix II listing for Namibia’s elephants is to restrict ALL live elephant exports from Namibia to bona fide in situ conservation projects, and NOT to allow exports that are clearly commercial in nature, serve no conservation purpose, and come with serious potential implications for the welfare of the animals concerned.”

According to Namibian officials the chosen five elephants ranging between the ages of 4 and 8 years will be captured and removed from their mothers before being isolated and “tamed” for translocation to the zoo.

Cruel practice to inflict on kind animals
The capturing of wild elephants has been globally condemned as there is no conservation value in displaying wild caught animals in captivity and also that the practice is both cruel and unethical. These concerns are recognised in South Africa’s Norms and Standards for the Management of Elephants which specifically prohibit the capture of wild elephants to be kept in permanent captivity.

“The sales of wild elephants can create a perverse financial incentive for other countries to engage in poor conservation practices, disguising the sales as conservation, wildlife management, or as ‘rescues.’” says one report on the capture of wild elephants for zoos.

Research has shown that elephants are highly sentient beings which are extremely dependent on family bonds and do not thrive in captivity. The removal of calves from their mothers is highly traumatic causing severe depression and health implications.

Pickover emphasizes that “There is a critical mass of evidence to show that wild-caught elephants do not fare well in captivity. These young elephants will still be highly dependent on their mothers and family groups, and their removal will cause huge stress and anxiety for them and the remaining family members”.


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Re: #ShockWildlifeTruths: Namibia flouts international law to export baby elephants

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Its just all about the money 0*\


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World outrage at planned export of baby elephants from Namibia

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World outrage at planned export of baby elephants from Namibia

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BY DON PINNOCK - 12 JUNE 2017 - SA BREAKING NEWS


Permission granted by the Namibian government to a game farm owned by a Swedish national to capture and export to Dubai five wild young elephants has raised a storm among conservation organisations worldwide.

In an open letter to Johan Hansen of the farm Eden Wildlife, the Humane Society International (HSI), co-signed by 35 other organisations, requested that he ‘immediately and permanently halt plans to capture and export five young live elephants….to Dubai Safari Park in the United Arab Emirates.’

Sources suggest that the Dubai Safari Park will offer elephants rides, which HSI says may require cruel ‘taming’ practices such as withholding of food and water as well as painful physical restraints.

The letter points out that the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s African Elephant Specialist Group opposes the removal of African elephants from the wild for captive use because ‘there is no direct benefit for in situ conservation.’

It also notes that young elephants are dependent on their mothers and herds to acquire necessary socialisation skills and that disruption of this bond is physically and psychologically traumatic for the calf and remaining herd. Trading wild elephants for commercial purposes is also illegal in terms of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species on Fauna and Flora (CITES) criteria.

According to the Namibian Sun newspaper, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism dismissed allegations that the export did not meet these criteria.

Namibian environment minister Pohamba Shifeta insisted the sale was not for commercial purposes but ‘purely for conservation as Namibia has seen an increase in its elephant population and in human-wildlife conflict.’ He said that Namibian elephant population was increasing, the sale was purely for population management and that CITES requirements had been met.

In response, Audrey Delsink, executive director for HSI/Africa, said: ‘Ethically responsible elephant scientists and preserve managers know that capturing and selling elephant calves is not a humane or efficient population management measure, as the Namibian government claims. Rather, it is a false pretence to make financial gains that have no conservation benefits.”

Earth Organisation Namibia has questioned these assurances: ‘In a recent CITES report Namibia has given its official elephant numbers as 22 711, of which 13 136 live in the North-East of the country. It is impossible to verify those numbers because Namibia decided not to be part of the Great Elephant Census (GEC). Of all the countries with substantial elephant populations, Namibia was the only one that elected not to participate. If Namibia has such a large population of elephants, why did it choose not to be part of the GEC?’

There have also been concerns about CITES permitting. Over a decade ago the CITES secretariat decided to abolish checks on permits being sent to its head office in Geneva. This effectively means that CITES effectively got out of the enforcement business and left it to individual countries to do their own policing. Since then there have been ongoing reports of corruption and income from selling fake and falsified export permits for all kinds of valuable species.

Since Namibia’s refusal to be part of the GEC and its attempt to remove trade restrictions at the recent CITES CoP17 meeting, there has been growing concern among conservationists in the country about the country’s approach to sustainable wildlife management and the policing of poaching amidst an uptick in elephant poaching in recent years.

Namibian journalist John Grobler, writing for Oxpeckers, noted that ‘since 2014 poaching cases have been routinely delayed, repeat offenders routinely granted bail and police too efficient at rounding up poachers sidelined to dead-end desk jobs or pushed into early retirement. It is also part of a general decay in the the administration of justice in Namibia’s lower courts, where most poaching cases are handled.’

According to Earth Organisation Namibia, ‘we are dealing with the major poaching epidemic alongside completely unethical and illegal hunting practices, capture of wild species in the ocean and on land, the springing up of illegal copper mines and processing plants in wilderness areas where the wildlife feed and drink as well as marine phosphate mining. Namibia is fast becoming the next hotbed for wildlife crime.’

It is not known whether the young elephants have been captured or already shipped to Dubai. The Ministry of Environment has not answered requests for information.

Read original article: http://www.sabreakingnews.co.za/2017/06 ... m-namibia/


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