Save Tusker the elephant from Being shot on 7 Janaury

Tusker (or Dustbin as he is also known), is the resident elephant at Charara National Park at the Kariba Park in Zimbabwe . With his peaceful antics of raiding bins and braais he is a legend and a great favorite of tourists and locals alike. We don't want to lose him.

There has been an attempt to relocate Tusker in the past which didn't quite go according to plan and when Johnny Rodrigues (Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force) went to National Parks Headquarters and told them what had transpired, they showed compassion for Tusker and agreed that he can remain in Kariba.

They won't shoot him as long as he doesn't hurt anyone; however, there are conditions to this reprieve. It was agreed that the reason Tusker has become so habituated to humans is because people feed the wild animals. There are signs in every National Park in the country, including Kariba, prohibiting the feeding of wild animals but there are people who ignore this.

Tusker, through no fault of his own has become used to people and he has learnt that where humans are present, he will find food. We are extremely concerned about this because we have heard several stories of people feeding him and by feeding him; those people are inadvertently condemning him to death. Although he has never killed anyone, he has been classified as a "problem animal".

After his recent behavior over the 2007 Charara New Years weekend it has been decided that Tusker should be shot. This tragic event will be taking place on the 7th January, 2008.
 Thus we must get as many people around the owrld to sign this petition to the Zimbabwe wildlife authorities as possible in as short a s possible time.

___________________________________________

We, the undersigned, request an immediate halt to the plans to shoot the elephant known as Tusker (or Dustbin) at Chamara NP at Kariba camp and that all possible solutions are sought to mitigate against any human/elephant conflict arising from his habituation to people, that preclude his being killed.

We appreciate your time and consideration in this matter

With respect


_______________________________________________

I cannot stress too much how urgent this is. Also please forward the link of this petition page to as many friends as you know in order to possibly save Tusker's life.

contact Jude at safaritalk@iinet.net.au for assistance.

Lets do it people!
For this Elephant

______________________________________________

For further information on Tusker click here:

http://safaritalk.net/index.php?showtopic=248

http://safaritalk.net/index.php?showtopic=306

______________________________________________________

 

Update: TIME FACTORS FOR SIGNING

AFRICA TIME
The petition will be closed at exactly 6PM (18:00) SUNDAY AFRICA TIME to be collated and presented to The Wildlife Authority - it will be printed out as the Africa connection Johnny Rodriguez has also gathered over 300 signatures on the ground.

USA CONVERSION TIMES
PETITION NEEDS TO BE SIGNED BY USA TIME 10.00 PM (22:00) SATURDAY NIGHT

AUSTRALIAN CONVERSION TIMES
PETITION NEEDS TO BE SIGNED BY AUS TIME 2.30AM (02:30) MONDAY MORNING

EUROPEAN CONVERSION TIMES (BASED ON BERLIN)
PETITION NEEDS TO BE SIGNED BY 5.00PM (17:00) SUNDAY AFTERNOON