Shipment of animals from Zimbabwe to North Korea is cancelled.

From Johnny Rodrigues - Chairman of Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force 

June 2010. Following our May report about the animals being captured in Hwange National Park for the purpose of being sold to Pyonyang Zoo in North Korea, we are now delighted to announce that the shipment has been cancelled.

We would like to thank everybody who participated in protesting against the removal of these animals from Zimbabwe. We do not yet have accurate information on what will now become of the animals that have already been captured but we have an unconfirmed report that the 2 young elephants will be sent to Wild Horizons in Victoria Falls for rehabilitation before being released back into the wild.

Although we are very grateful that the shipment was cancelled, we are still concerned because at a National Parks press conference last month, the Director General of National Parks stated that there were a further 5 countries who had placed orders to buy animals from Zimbabwe. We do not know whether or not National Parks are planning to fulfill those orders. 

Johnny Rodrigues
Chairman of Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force