VZCZCXRO9710
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0469/01 1500954
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 300954Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1533
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 1611
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 1478
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 1615
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0880
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 1243
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1671
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 4077
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1440
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 2098
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0738
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1832
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC//DHO-7//
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK//DOOC/ECMO/CC/DAO/DOB/DOI//
RUEPGBA/CDR USEUCOM INTEL VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ23-CH/ECJ5M//

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000469 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR S. HILL 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR M. COPSON AND E.LOKEN 
TREASURY FOR J. RALYEA AND T.RAND 
COMMERCE FOR BECKY ERKUL 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ETRD PREL PGOV ZI
SUBJECT: GOZ SEEKS USG SUPPORT TO CONTINUE ELEPHANT HUNTING 
UNDER CITES 
 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (SBU)  In a May 25 meeting with the Ambassador, 
Environment and Tourism Minister Francis Nhema sought our 
support for Zimbabwe's opposition to a proposal by Kenya to 
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species 
(CITES) to ban all elephant hunting and trade in elephant 
products for 20 years.  Nhema noted the large and growing 
size of Zimbabwe's elephant population, the conservation 
benefits of elephant trophy hunting, and the revenue that it 
generated.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
Sustainable and Controlled Elephant Hunting 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In a meeting with the Ambassador at the Ministry of 
Foreign Affair's request, Minister Nhema described Zimbabwe's 
well-protected population of about 100,000 elephants and the 
practice of trophy hunting under Zimbabwe's 500-elephant per 
year CITES quota.  He said the Kenyan proposal to CITES, up 
for vote at the June 3-15 CITES meeting in the Netherlands, 
was ostensibly intended to eliminate poaching, but that 
elephant poaching in Zimbabwe had fallen steadily to about 
100 animals per year as a result of Zimbabwe's progressive 
policies. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Nhema credited the conservation successes to good 
wildlife management by the Parks and Wildlife Management 
Authority in the national parks, and to the success of the 
Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources 
(CAMPFIRE) on communal land.  The widely acclaimed CAMPFIRE 
program, begun in the mid-1980s, encouraged rural communities 
to take ownership of local wildlife resources and benefit 
from conservation-associated employment, shared trophy 
revenue for community projects, and the controlled provision 
of much needed protein from the hunt.  Nhema said elephant 
hunting in Zimbabwe helped reduce rural poverty and improve 
rural living standards and the success of the program had led 
local communities to assume a sense of ownership in 
anti-poaching efforts. 
 
----------------- 
For a Tidy Profit 
----------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Nhema said trophy hunting financed the Parks and 
Wildlife Management Authority,s conservation budget.  He 
added that it also provided employment and revenue.  Elephant 
hunting contributed about US$12 million of the US$40 million 
revenue generated directly by trophy hunting in Zimbabwe. 
(N.B. the trophy fee for a bull elephant is US$10,000, and 
the "daily rate" is US$1,000 with a minimum 21-day length of 
hunt.)  On communal land, Nehma said that 95 percent of 
CAMPFIRE revenue came from hunting, and about 60 percent of 
that arose from elephant hunting.  Moreover, secondary 
industries, such as taxidermy services, freight forwarding 
 
HARARE 00000469  002 OF 002 
 
 
and modest-scale ivory manufacturing also benefited from 
elephant hunting. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Nhema added that Zimbabwe accumulated about 13 t of 
ivory per year, primarily from natural mortality and 
problem-animal control.  Except for confiscated ivory, he 
said the ivory was sold to registered local dealers and 
refined into CITES certified game products for the domestic 
market. 
 
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U.S. Role 
--------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Finally, Nhema said the majority of hunters came to 
Zimbabwe from the U.S. and many were repeat visitors.  He 
said this year's annual international hunting convention in 
Reno, Nevada in January had been a huge success and that the 
country's hunting capacity was fully booked for the next four 
years.  The Minister expressed gratitude to the Ambassador 
for support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2006 
in monitoring Zimbabwe's elephant population. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Ambassador responded to Nhema's presentation 
with a promise to convey the Minister's views to Washington 
and to subsequently inform him of the U.S. position with 
respect to the proposed ban. 
 
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Comment 
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¶8.  (SBU) In our view, Nhema made a compelling argument in 
opposition to the Kenyan proposal for a ban on elephant 
hunting.  The fact is that unlike many of its African 
neighbors, Zimbabwe has done a good job of conserving its 
wildlife and especially its elephant population; to the point 
where the herd has grown beyond the carrying capacity of 
Zimbabwe's natural habitat.  Elephant hunting poses no risk 
to the elephant population in Zimbabwe and moreover makes 
important contributions to wildlife conservancy in Zimbabwe. 
While there are some concerns about illicit trade in ivory by 
Chinese nationals, the sale of elephant trophies on communal 
land under the guise of "problem-animal control," and 
conservancy ownership issues arising from fast-track land 
reform that we will address septel, nevertheless, the Parks 
and Wildlife Management Authority of Zimbabwe remains one of 
the most professional on the continent and is increasingly 
dependent on the revenue generated from elephant hunting. 
Without that revenue, the Authority and wildlife conservation 
in general would take serious hits, ironically leading to an 
increase in the poaching that the proposal is ostensibly 
designed to deter. 
DELL