PETITION CLOSED
PETITION TARGET: Ambassador of Zimbabwe to the United States Ammon Mutembwa
UPDATE (2/13/2023): We sent our petition, signed by more than 50,000 people, to the Ambassador of Zimbabwe to the United States. Unfortunately, the Zimbabwe government announced plans in August 2022 to still allow trophy hunters to kill 500 elephants this year, selling at $10,000 each, according to Bloomberg. This brutal and horrific blood sport must stop before any more of these gentle giants are massacred! We’ll continue to do all we can for animals! —Lady Freethinker Staff
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Trophy hunters may soon slaughter up to 500 endangered African elephants as Zimbabwe prepares to sell hunting licenses to legally kill these majestic creatures.
Selling “rights” to kill the endangered elephants to hunters who pay between $10,000 and $70,000 to participate, this horrifying plan is part of an effort to recoup pandemic-related tourism revenue losses. But why should defenseless elephants die for profit?
Zimbabwe’s Parks and Wildlife Management Authority claims the country’s “excessive” elephant population is responsible for violent encounters with humans, according to Bloomberg. But the government announced its intentions to permit the hunts just weeks after a new International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessment determined that African elephants are increasingly at risk of extinction and set the statuses for two species to “Endangered” and “Critically Endangered.”
These perilously threatened creatures do not deserve to have a price put on their lives. We must speak out to protect these elephants from government-sanctioned slaughter.
Sign this petition urging Zimbabwean Ambassador Ammon Mutembwa to oppose and fight against the government’s appalling decision to promote the needless killing of elephants and instead find humane solutions to human-wildlife conflicts.
