Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe to slaughter wild animals as food for his 91st birthday feast

The President of Zimbabwe is celebrating turning 91 by hosting a party worth £750,000 which members of the Zimbabwean public have been forced to help fund

 

Under fire: Mugabe has been criticised by animal rights activists

Animal rights groups reacted with outrage at plans to slaughter two elephants and a lion for Robert Mugabe’s birthday.
They will be killed to provide meat for the Zimbabwe President’s 91st birthday celebrations.
Animal Defenders International branded the decision “appalling” and “shocking”.
Mugabe is celebrating his birthday with a £750,000 party at Victoria Falls.
About 20,000 guests are expected at the event.
Workers up and down the country have been force to contribute to the feast.
Teachers each had £7 taken from their monthly pay.
It is just one of the celebrations planned for the notorious dictator who has ruled Zimbabwe for the past 35 years.

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Innocent Hamandishe, from Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party said: “We are going to ensure that the wonder of Zimbabwe celebrates his 91st birthday where one of the wonders of the world is."

But the ritual in his honour involving the slaughter of elephants at the party have drawn further fire.
Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, described the plan as “totally unethical.”
“I am totally disgusted by the news,” he said. “We claim to have the best conservationist policies in the world, but our president does not set a good example.
"How can he talk of anti-poaching when he is allowing this to happen?”
Tendai Musasa, who heads the Woodlands Conservancy in Victoria Falls, said he donated the elephants for slaughter because “it speaks volumes about how I hold the president in high esteem.”
Africa’s oldest leader and his wife, Grace, have been under EU sanctions since 2002.