Wildlife expert: Zimbabwe troops are eating elephants' meat

Jonny Rodrigues, an expert with the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force told BBC that several soldiers have complained to him that they were given elephants’ meat as their rations. Most of the meat is coming from the elephants in national parks, which hosts more than 100,000 elephants. Some of the elephants are killed because of food scarcity, whether those elephants are used as meat is not clear. An online website ZimOnline also reported this story when it quoted an unnamed senior army officer in Harare saying that soldiers started eating elephant meat since last week. The officer said the meat was much better than their previous ration, sadza (maize-meal porridge). Rodrigues told BBC that the army recently canceled contracts to supply beef to feed their soldiers. Instead of beef, the army is offering elephants’ meat, which is cheap and easier to supply according to Rodrigues. The soldiers are already suffering from poor wages and decrease in the value of the currency. They staged a protest recently for being unable to withdraw their salaries in cash from banks. Despite all this Robert Mugabe is still in power and no sign of relief for the Zimbabwean citizens. The UN is watching the events like a spectator in a gladiator sporting event.