Grace Mugabe pays military debt to China with 35 elephant calves
Stuart Graham, Johannesburg December 26 2016, 12:01am, The Times
Grace Mugabe has sent a menagerie of safari animals to a Chinese wildlife
park to pay for military uniforms for the Democratic Republic of Congo.
◎第一夫人Grace Mugabe為剛果民主共和國支付軍裝送了一批動物到中國野生動物園
(wildlife park)
The 51-year-old wife of the Zimbabwean leader is believed to have sent 35
elephant calves, eight lions, a dozen hyenas and a giraffe to settle a debt
for boots and uniforms bought for the Congolese military, a conservationist
with intimate knowledge of the deal told The Times.
◎據信已送出35頭大象小牛，8頭獅子，十多頭鬣狗和一頭長頸鹿
Mugabe, 92, has had close ties with President Kabila of the DRC, 45, and his
late father, Laurent, since 1997, when Zimbabwe sent troops there to help to
squash a rebellion supported by Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.
◎辛巴威總統與剛果民主共和國總統有緊☆密★的關係
自從1997，辛巴威派遣部隊鎮壓由盧旺達，烏干達和布隆迪支持的叛亂
There are fears that the elephants could be used to start an ivory-farming
operation in China.
◎有人擔心這些大象會被用來在中國開辦象牙養殖業
They were captured at the Hwange National Park and flown out of the country
in a Russian-registered Boeing 747 belonging to AirBridge Cargo.
◎他們在Hwange國家公園被捕獲，由俄羅斯註冊的AirBridge貨物的波音747載出
The plane stopped in Moscow en route to Shanghai and the animals were finally
released at the Chimelong safari park in Guangzhou.
◎飛機飛到莫斯科再轉上海最後到答廣州的長隆野生動物園
Zimbabwean wildlife officials have defended the capture of the elephants,
saying that it would ease pressure on the “overburdened” parks and reduce
conflict with local communities. But a wildlife expert in Zimbabwe said that
the forced separation of the young elephants from their herds was “a mad act
of cruelty”.
◎辛巴威的野生動物官員說此舉可以減少負擔過重的公園壓力和與當地社區的衝突
但是野生動物專家說這個舉動瘋狂又殘忍
Nick Lynch, who has been monitoring the transaction since 2014, said that the
deal involved “rogue elements” within the Chinese expat community — and
that the Chinese government was taking covert steps to eradicate the illegal
wildlife trade.
◎自2014就在監控交易的Nick Lynch說
這筆交易涉及中國外籍社區的“流氓元素”（rogue elements）
而中國當局正在採取措施剷除非法野生動物交易
“The Chinese expat community in Zimbabwe must now be carefully scrutinised
as well and all those found to be acting illegally or in a manner that
threatens China’s best interests in Africa should be dealt with accordingly,
” he added.
⊕NL補充說明的東西
The two main opposition groups in Zimbabwe, the Movement for Democratic
Change, headed by Morgan Tsvangirai, and the Zimbabwe People First Party, led
by Joice Mujuru, the former deputy president, have criticised the “
translocation of our elephants to strange environments”.
◎兩個主要反對派團體批評"我們的大象遷移到奇怪的環境"
Mugabe is on a multimillion-pound, month-long holiday in Singapore with his
family and entourage — despite a national cash crisis that has resulted in
civil servants not being paid their salaries this month.
◎儘管國家正面臨現金危機導致無法支付公務員這個月的薪水
總統與他的快樂夥伴(家人與隨行)目前在新加坡歡度一個高達數百萬英鎊的假期
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/zimbabwark-to-settle-mugabe-debt-vww9ctqrb