Zim to sell wildlife to China
The fear of animals dying in drought conditions has forced Zimbabwe to resume animal exports to China, ignoring an outcry from animal rights activists. Minister of Environment, Water and Climate Change Oppah Muchinguri said more of Zimbabwe's animals will find a home in Guangzhou's conservation base of endangered wild plants and animals after a tour there."We are going to increase the number of elephants and other species we are exporting to China. We will not apologise to anyone. Not even once, because they are our elephants and our people live with a huge population of elephants and bear the trouble of living with them," Muchinguri said.The minister added that top of the list for Chinese animal shoppers would be baboons, hyenas, lions and elephants, the demand for which is high.Last year there were reports that 27 young elephants had been shipped to China.Animal activists that include Hollywood stars such as George Clooney argued that the animal trade went ahead under unbearable conditions.Meanwhile, during the same period elephant poaching reached unprecedented levels when water sources were contaminated with cyanide in areas surrounding the Hwange National Park in Matabeleland North...
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