Dubai elephant export a concern

PERMISSION granted by the Namibian government to a game farm owned by a Swedish national to capture and export five wild elephants has raised a storm among conservationists worldwide.

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

Sources suggest the park will offer elephants rides, which its 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 as “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.

Environment Minister Pohamba Shifeta insisted the sale was “purely for conservation as Namibia has seen an increase in its elephant population and in human-wildlife conflict”.

He said Cites requirements had been met.

Earth Organisation Namibia said: “If Namibia has such a large population of elephants, why did it choose not to be part of the Great Elephant Census?”

There has been growing concern among conservationists about the country’s approach to sustainable wildlife management and the policing of poaching.