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ZCTF statement on capture of elephants
Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF)
November 23, 2006

Read the Shearwater statement
Read the ZNSPCA statement

The news of the capture of 12 juvenile elephants by Shearwater Adventures from Hwange National Park is fairly widespread by now. I have just returned from a 3 week trip and was given the distressing information while I was out of the country. I released the story to the media while I was away and now that I am back, I would like to state that the ZCTF is disgusted and disappointed that this cruel practice has been allowed to take place.

For those who have not yet heard the story, Shearwater Adventures of Victoria Falls somehow managed to secure a permit from National Parks to capture 15 juvenile elephants from Shumba Pan in Hwange National Park. Their intention is to train them for the purpose of giving elephant rides to tourists. This is in contravention of the accepted policy that no wild animal will be domesticated.

They managed to capture 12 elephants, using the Shearwater helicopter to dart them and one died the day after it was relocated to Victoria Falls.

We have heard that this is not the first time elephants have been captured in the Victoria Falls areea and we have an unconfirmed report that at least 2 elephants died following a previous capture but this is still under investigation.

According to a statement written by scientists from the Ambelosi Elephant Research Project in Kenya, the breaking up of elephant families by removing their young creates a very high level of stress, not only for the captured elephants, but also for the family members left behind. The researchers have witnessed elephant captures where the screams of the captured elephants cause their family members to attempt to rescue them. Both the elephants caught and those left behind were found to suffer physical trauma, dehydration, immune system suppression and long term psycological trauma. They claim that due to the excellent memories of elephants, they are likely to respond aggressively towards humans, vehicles and helicopters in the future.

The following paragraph was taken from their statement:

"Elephants are renowned for their memories, intelligence and sociality. Similar to those of humans, these traits also make them particularly vulnerable to stress and trauma and their long term consequences. These effects would be long lasting both for the animals removed from their families and for those remaining in the reserve. Our strong recommendation is that the authorities order, with all urgency, an immediate moratorium on the capture and training of young elephants, and prohibit all removals of this nature in future"

The attempted domestication of wild elephants is not only unspeakably cruel, but it is also very dangerous to unsuspecting tourists. An elephant that has been trained, will most likely have been subjected to cruelty and abuse. In order to make the elephant obedient, the usual method is to break its spirit. This breeds resentment and in time, some elephants have been known to turn on humans. In Zimbabwe, if an elephant kills a human, it gets the death penalty.

We are enraged at the fact that since September last year, we have been doing everything in our power to get water pumping in Hwange National Park to try and avoid a repetition of the water crisis of 2005. Many of you reading this have assisted us with funds to buy fuel, spare parts etc. and thanks to you, there is now water in the park for the animals. It sickens us to recall that we took a load of tyres to Hwange in a truck which was sponsored by Shearwater Adventures. We are now questioning their motives in assisting us. The elephants were captured at Shumba Pan in Hwange National Park and it's a lot easier to find elephants to capture when the pans are full of water.

The whole operation reeks of greed and corruption. The fact that National Parks is entrusted with the protection of the wildlife, did not stop them from authorizing the capture and what sort of people would inflict such trauma on these very special majestic animals for the sake of lining their pockets?

Johnny Rodrigues
Chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force

Visit the ZCTF fact sheet

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