SIGN: Stop Trophy Hunters From Slaughtering 500 Elephants in Zimbabwe

PETITION TARGET: Ambassador of Zimbabwe to the United States Ammon Mutembwa

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.