With the quiet lifting of the Hunting Ban by one of the Zimbabwean cabinet ministers, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe made a public announcement expressing his anger at the people and his government team for failing to protect Cecil the Lion. He also made labelled poachers foreign vandals plundering the country's resources.
“All the natural resources are yours,” Mugabe said in a speech marking Heroes’ Day, a national holiday honouring fighters who died in the war to end white minority rule. “Even Cecil the lion is yours. He is dead but yours to protect, and you failed to protect him.
“There are vandals who come from all over. Some may be just ordinary visitors, but there are others who want to vandalise, to irregularly and illegally acquire part of those resources.”
He added: “All this wildlife is yours, we should protect them. They should not be shot by a gun, it’s a sin. Or an arrow. I was stopped from killing animals with an arrow when I was seven or eight years old. I was told: ‘These are God’s creatures’.”
President Mugabe's outburst at poachers and governemnt officials who only care about making a quick buck received support from a leading safari operator. Beks Ndlovu, founder and chief executive of African Bush Camps, said: “I would agree we failed, the system failed, to protect Cecil. That is why the government is putting stringent measures in place at parks now.”
President Mugabee isn't all fluffy and nice as he has been criticized as a cruel dictator and a violator of human rights and have driven the Zimbabwean economy to the ground. We speculate this announcement to be more of a PR stunt where Mugabee will not be following through with his actions.
Read also:
This president's inaction supports poaching
Sourced from:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/10/mugabe-hits-out-at-failure-to-protect-cecil-the-lion
“All the natural resources are yours,” Mugabe said in a speech marking Heroes’ Day, a national holiday honouring fighters who died in the war to end white minority rule. “Even Cecil the lion is yours. He is dead but yours to protect, and you failed to protect him.
“There are vandals who come from all over. Some may be just ordinary visitors, but there are others who want to vandalise, to irregularly and illegally acquire part of those resources.”
He added: “All this wildlife is yours, we should protect them. They should not be shot by a gun, it’s a sin. Or an arrow. I was stopped from killing animals with an arrow when I was seven or eight years old. I was told: ‘These are God’s creatures’.”
President Mugabe's outburst at poachers and governemnt officials who only care about making a quick buck received support from a leading safari operator. Beks Ndlovu, founder and chief executive of African Bush Camps, said: “I would agree we failed, the system failed, to protect Cecil. That is why the government is putting stringent measures in place at parks now.”
President Mugabee isn't all fluffy and nice as he has been criticized as a cruel dictator and a violator of human rights and have driven the Zimbabwean economy to the ground. We speculate this announcement to be more of a PR stunt where Mugabee will not be following through with his actions.
Read also:
This president's inaction supports poaching
Sourced from:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/10/mugabe-hits-out-at-failure-to-protect-cecil-the-lion