IFAW has just committed US$25,000 to move nine elephants that were severely abused by a Zimbabwean safari company.

The elephants were to be used to give “elephant-back safaris” to wealthy tourists. The cruel training methods included physical abuse, isolation, malnourishment and neglect – all designed to “break the spirit” of the young elephants so that they could be easily controlled.

IFAW is planning on moving the rescued elephants 4000km to Hwange National Park, the largest protected preserve in Zimbabwe.

http://www.ifaw.org/Publications/General/a...le511_58707.pdf

I'm concerned about them moving to Hwange, which has had a lot of killing recently, but it certainly gives them a better chance than being in that horrible safari.

I have the same concern: I just received this response from IFAW

Thank you for writing. The government of Zimbabwe is not allowing us to take the elephants out of Zimbabwe, so we are very limited on what we can do. After looking at all the options, Hwange National Park was decided upon by the ZNSPCA as it is the safest of the protected areas within Zimbabwe. We realize that poaching is a problem; not only in Zimbabwe, but throughout most of Africa’s protected areas. The government has given the ZNSPCA assurance of their safety and the elephants will be monitored post release, so every realistic precaution is being taken. You can count on us following up to prevent this type activity from being made legal and trying to makes sure elephant safaris are not a legal option in the future as well as putting pressure on the government to have stronger park protections. We must tread a very tight political line until the elephants are moved to the safest possible place before trying to do any of those things. I hope you understand.

Sincerely,

Tracy Weeks
IFAW Supporter Relations

Rescued ellies return to wild
2009-10-30 12:18



Cape Town - Nine elephants rescued earlier this year from a ranch in Zimbabwe where they were being "trained" for use in the safari industry, are to be moved to a national park in that country, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) said on Friday......


http://www.news24.com/Content/SciTech/News..._return_to_wild

Thanks for posting cgl ...

From Joyce Poole on Facebook ...

Great news from Glynis in Zimbabwe: At mid morning today, 5th November 2009, the nine released elephants in Hwange National Park were sighted. They were still together, show no repercussions from their journey and are in good health. They were unperturbed by our presence and moved off. We are so pleased with this news! It is a lesson that elephants can be released back to the wild. Joyce

Latest News of the Zimbabwe 9

...Post release monitoring of this group will be conducted by National Parks and Wildlife Officials with the assistance of ZNSPCA. As the ZNSPCA have few personnel and are inexperienced in this field, we have approached Wild Horizons Trust and Elephants Without Borders to assist National Parks with the post release monitoring. Wildlife Specialist, Karen Trendler will also play an integral role in this process as she successfully rehabilitated the traumatised elephants. This case has huge scientific significance for other projects of similar nature world wide....



http://www.elephantvoices.org/news-media-a...zimbabwe-9.html

It is nice to read good news involving elephants.

From ElephantVoices ...

More news from Glynis Vaughan, ZNSPCA for those of you following this story: The 9 rescued elephants released into Hwange National Park on 3rd November 2009 were sighted yesterday. Mary and her small group were close to the release site, White Hills pan. The elephants have remained in the White Hills area and have remained together, reacting calmly to the rangers' presence.

From Elephant Voices - Photos of the move ...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1737...58931060&ref=nf

Many of you following the Zimbabwe nine might like to watch the linked story on Carte Blanche. The video news piece... http://bit.ly/2jL9dU

Link to the online version of IFAW's magazine featuring the elephant move. Lots of pictures.

http://www.ifaw.org/WOA/WOA2/US/index.html...=y&auid=5570919

Oops, wrong elephant move. The magazine is about their move of the 83 elephants. sorry.