To: The Honorable Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of Zimbabwe and The Honorable John Magufuli, President of Tanzania

Please stop allowing trophy hunters to slaughter animals in your nation

We are appalled by the increasing senseless slaughter of Africa's wildlife by Americans, Europeans, and Asians. There are examples of successful ecotourism in nations like Costa Rica that would prove far more valuable to your nation than perpetuating this on-going slaughter of baby elephants, adult giraffes, water buffalo, white rhino, saiga antelope, primates, lions, ad nauseum. The most egregious of the safari companies is Charlton McCaffrey Safaris in Zimbabwe and in Mozambique, plus many others operating in Tanzania and South Africa. Our concerns are the focus of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, to be held from 23 May to 3 June 2019 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. We request you as head-of-state to be a strong proponent for these animals, and to see that ridding your nation of these egregious safari operators will benefit your constituents in the long run.

Why is this important?

There has been a sharp increase in coverage and photos of trophy hunters in Africa and their slaughter of baby elephants, giraffes, water buffalo, and even several species of primates, like baboons. Most of the meat is thrown away and left to rot. Safari companies charge outrageous sums to their sadistic clients, and very little of the money goes back into the communities in these African nations. This must be more recognized by activists and animal rights sympathizers before the coming CITES conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the end of May 2019. Only by letting these two heads of state (to start with!) of our displeasure and our outrage at the increasing slaughter of wildlife in their nations can we hope to make a different kind of real progress, based on kindness to animals.