Target: CITES, Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
Goal: Revoke Zimbabwe’s license to sell endangered elephants to Chinese zoos
Wild baby elephants in Zimbabwe continue to be kidnapped from their families and shipped thousands of miles to China where they will live out their lives in solitary confinement in ill-equipped zoos. The practice of stealing wild baby elephants from Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park and shipping them to China has continued to be common practice despite the numerous deaths of babies both during and after transport due to stress and improper treatment. Please tell the governing agency, CITES (Secretariat of the Convention of Trade in Endangered Species), to revoke the license that allows this cruel practice to continue.
Elephants are highly social, intelligent creatures that live in tight family units in the wild. In Hwange National Park, baby elephants are routinely being kidnapped and sold to China where they will suffer the rest of their lives in solitary confinement in a Chinese zoo. The kidnapping and transfer of these poor, innocent creatures is devastating to both the baby elephant and the family unit that remains in the park. Many of the infants die during or after transport from stress and unfit living conditions. This practice is allowed by a governing agency known as CITES, Secretariat of the Convention of Trade of Endangered Species. CITES issues permits for this cruel practice to continue due to monetary needs, citing the need for funds to keep the National Park operating properly.
China has already contracted to buy 8 more elephant infants in 2013. Despite their monetary woes, this cruel, inhumane practice must stop. Selling baby elephants to a premature death or lifetime of misery is an unacceptable solution to a temporary problem. Please urge CITES to revoke China’s permit to buy these precious, endangered creatures from Zimbabwe.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear CITES, Secretariat of the Convention of Trade in Endangered Species,
I was horrified to learn that China is still allowed to buy fragile baby elephants that have been ripped from their families in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. This heartless, cruel practice often ends in a premature, agonizing death for these innocent babies. Please immediately revoke the license that allows this horrific practice to continue.
China continues to purchase baby elephants from Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park only to display them in zoos in barren metal cages where they will live their entire lives in solitary confinement. These highly intelligent creatures form strong family and social bonds in the wild and are completely devastated when ripped from their natural environment. Many calves die during or after transport due to stress and lack of proper care. This cruel procedure is justified by the National Park declaring that it desperately needs money to continue operating; selling baby elephants can be a somewhat lucrative business.
Kidnapping elephant calves from their natural environment only to sell them to ill-equipped, barren zoos in China is a despicable practice. Selling these innocent creatures as a means for monetary gain imposes a lifetime of suffering for a temporary problem. Please immediately revoke China’s license to purchase and imprison these delicate innocent creatures from the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Themba the Elephant via Flickr