Wild African elephants from several countries in southern Africa should no longer be sold to zoos and circuses.
A request from African states was surprisingly accepted at the Washington Conference on the Protection of Cities (CITES) in Geneva. Accordingly, the animals can only be sold to conservation projects in their natural habitat – Africa.
Daniela Freyer from the animal welfare organization Pro Wildlife spoke of a groundbreaking decision. „The capture of wild elephant babies from their herds is traumatic and totally unacceptable,“ she said yesterday in Geneva. Accordingly, Zimbabwe is selling elephant babies to Asia, among other places. They achieved prices of around 30,000 euros.
The motion was approved by a committee with 46 votes in favor and 18 against. It must be confirmed in plenary at the end of the conference, which runs until 28 August.
The European Union had spoken out against the request. The application categorically precludes bringing elephants out of their natural habitat – even if that makes sense for reasons of protection, according to the EU Council decision on the EU position at the March Conference.
