ZHUWAO BRIEF: The elephants that unite us

19 Apr, 2015 - 00:04 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

I would ordinarily not subscribe to the adage that blondes are devoid of intellect.

The Zhuwao Brief wishes Zimbabwe a happy 35th Independence Anniversary.

It is unfortunate that this happy event has to be tempered by the senseless racist violence and thievery that is being perpetrated by black South Africans on black Africans under the incorrect label of xenophobia.

I will make three points about this before discussing the issue of sustainable management of Zimbabwe’s elephant resources. The first is that the racist violence perpetrated by these idiots is invariably accompanied by looting and illegal appropriation of the property of the victims. The South Africans perpetrating this racist violence and thievery are no more than kleptomaniacs who practise their demonic vice in the police’s full glare. When the police service superintends over thievery, would it be wrong to label that country a kleptocracy? Secondly, to describe this as xenophobia is to attempt to somehow justify it and give armed robbery a veneer of respectability. Xenophobia has been described as “an unreasonable fear of anything foreign”. The concept of fear has been abused to provide the justification for violence and the cover for criminality by these nincompoops.

There is nothing to fear from your own local shopkeeper who at times extends credit to you when you are broke. All these idiots want to do is loot and steal. Thirdly, the racist violence and thievery disguised as xenophobia is not targeted at foreigners per se but is specifically targeted at black foreigners.

This means it cannot justifiably be referred to as xenophobia if it leaves an Englishman unscathed. This is plain racism being perpetrated by feeble-minded simpletons who have succumbed to the racism equivalent of the Stockholm syndrome. One of the biggest tragedies, over and above the loss of life, has been the media’s uncritical acceptance that the racist violence and thievery being perpetrated by these charlatans is xenophobia.

South Africans are perpetrating racist violence on black Africans. South Africans are perpetrating racist thievery and robbery on and of black Africans. They hate black people. They hate themselves. South Africans’ hatred for other black people can be explained by a reminder of the high school Physics experiment of shining light into a prism and de-constructing all the various colours of the rainbow.

The rainbow contains every colour in the universe except black. The genesis of the racist violence and thievery is found in how South Africans describe themselves as a “Rainbow Nation”. South Africa is a country for all colours except black.

It is a shame that we have black brothers and sisters in South Africa who have uncritically accepted a narrative that denies space to their race in their own country.

It is so sad. #1994RainbowNationNotForBlacks.#1994SouthAfricaStillRacist.

Let us get back to the elephants.

During the course of this month Pamela Anderson, the former actress better known for flaunting her largely naked body on the television series “Baywatch”, issued a statement condemning the relocation of elephants from Hwange National Park. I would ordinarily not subscribe to the adage that blondes are devoid of intellect. Unfortunately, Pamela Anderson has damaged my faith in the intellectual superiority of the human race. The Americans have chosen to take their fight against the people of Zimbabwe to the elephants of Zimbabwe.

This is testimony of the fact the mighty nation of American is failing in its persistent onslaught onto the people of Zimbabwe up to the point of turning that fight to the animals in Zimbabwe. In further signs of the vindictive and callous nature of the Americans, we now find the likes of Pamela Anderson, and her deceptively named People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), taking on new measures to stifle the revenues that are necessary for conservation efforts in Zimbabwe.

In 2014 the US Fish and Wildlife Service took a political decision to impose import bans on elephant hunting trophies from Zimbabwe.

This meant American hunters were forbidden from exporting the trophies of their hunts back to America. The American excuse for this dastardly act was what they called shortcomings in issues of governance. The American regime condemned what it nonsensically referred to as “questionable management practices, a lack of effective law enforcement and weak governance”.

This callous decision by the regime in Washington was not based on any sound scientific justification considering that Zimbabwe is one of the world’s leaders in elephant conservation. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species places Zimbabwean elephants in Appendix II in recognition of the fact that we manage wildlife sustainably. As a result of the ban, American hunters are now shooting elephants in South Africa. Safari operators and Zimbabwe’s professional hunters say the ban has crippled their industry.

According to hunting operators in Zimbabwe, a 21-day elephant hunt costs up to US$2 000 a day, with an additional US$15 000 for the elephant trophy. Amounts upwards of US$80 000 for a hunt aren’t unheard of.

The deleterious effect of the ban on the wildlife management sector has been bemoaned by Environment, Water and Climate Minister Saviour Kasukuwere. Minister Kasukuwere pointed out that revenues from sport hunting are needed to fund national parks operations.

Colin Gilles, a long-time elephant counter and executive in the Wildlife and Environment Society, added: “National Parks desperately needs funds”. The Zimbabwean authorities have to deal with the twin challenges of unsustainable growth in elephant numbers and reduction in revenues from sport hunting.

Hwange National Park has a carrying capacity of 15 000 elephants as opposed to the current plus-53 000. This has severely affected bio-diversity within the conservation area and it is imperative to remove some of the elephants.

There are two options open to Zimbabwe. One is to cull, with the only benefit being the meat which would be given to communities.

Alternatively, the elephants could be relocated alive to other areas in Zimbabwe or internationally. Peta Thornycroft, a foreign-based Zimbabwean journalist, reports that most elephant counters agree with Zimbabwe’s national parks authority that we have too many elephants in our north-western conservation corridors. David Cummings, one of Zimbabwe’s most experienced wildlife ecologists says: “There were about 4 000 elephants in Zimbabwe 100 years ago. Now we have about 100 000.” He adds that Zimbabwe’s elephant population grows at about five percent yearly, such that internal relocation doesn’t make sense. Thornycroft further reports that Trevor Lane, an elephant expert in Victoria Falls, agreed that internal relocation was not necessary. Lane pointed out that the drought this year saying many will die if relocated internally.

Reporting in the British newspaper the Telegraph, Thornycroft stated that Minister Kasukuwere indicated Zimbabwe hoped to export young elephants which would be tamed before they are exported.

Minister Kasukuwere admitted that the sale of the elephants would be controversial.

“We need to fund National Parks because of sanctions and sport hunting bans,” he said, adding: “We are between a rock and a hard place.” Colin Gilles of the Wildlife and Environment Society said the sale of the elephants was “the best of two evils”.

“Exporting sub-adult elephants is better than culling them. I know that National Parks desperately needs funds, and if these funds are not received by National Parks, then we have to live with exporting young elephants.”

Minister Kasukuwere said he was advised that sub-adult elephants, aged between five and seven-years-old, should be tamed after capture so they suffer less stress during relocation.

Exports are generally for elephants over five-years-old, after being weaned. And yes, they are tamed. He said Zimbabwe’s elephants would sell for about £40 000 each, including delivery costs.

Thornycroft reported Trevor Lane saying he expected such revenue would be used to fight poachers. There are unconfirmed reports that a dozen elephants were killed recently in the wildlife area of Matusadona in the Zambezi Valley near the Zambian border.

The fight for the sustainable conservation of elephants in Zimbabwe has attracted allies in America. Safari Club International proclaims itself “The Leader in Protecting the Freedom to Hunt and in Promoting Wildlife Conservation Worldwide”, whilst Conservation Force’s motto is “A Force for Wildlife Conservation, Wild Places and Our Way of Life”.

There is a symbiotic relationship between trophy hunting and wildlife conservation. Hunting advocacy groups and expedition companies in Africa cite contributions to local communities as part of their conservation effort. John Jackson III, chair and president of Conservation Force, a US hunting advocacy group, says they partner operators throughout Africa and funnel “benefits to local people in programmes in which they participate as decision-makers. In those cases, the tourist safari hunters donate sums to Conservation Force and we put it to work for the community”.

The most instructive point about the need to develop innovative solutions to address the American regime’s political decision to ban elephant trophies from Zimbabwe is how the issue of sustainable management of elephants has united us as Zimbabweans.

I have always felt that Peta Thornycroft instinctively opposes any initiative that comes from Government. I also previously felt that white Zimbabweans involved in wildlife matters were generally opposed to Government initiatives. I must admit that I was mistaken.

I am buoyed by the unity of purpose that our wildlife practitioners have exhibited. We have shown and indicated that we are Zimbabweans. We have the interests of Zimbabwe’s wildlife at heart. We will find alternatives when the American regime seeks to place our natural and God given heritage at risk. #1980SoFarSoGood. Icho!

 

Patrick Zhuwao is chair of the Zhuwao Institute, an economics, development and research think tank focused on integrating socio-political dimensions into business and economic decision-making, particularly strategic planning. He can be reached at [email protected].

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