ELEPHANTS FOR ANGOLA

Early day motion 555, tabled 4 February 2004 by Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 57 members.

That this House welcomes the reintroduction of elephants to Angola; notes the devastation caused to wildlife in Angola by the civil war which started after independence from Portugal in 1975; applauds the generosity of Botswana in donating 300 animals to re-establish a viable elephant population in Angola; commends the Kissama Foundation, which has been mandated to rehabilitate Angola's national parks, for delivering the first two family groups of four bull and four cow elephants, flown in an Ilyushin cargo plane to the Quicama National Park in Angola from the Louis Trichard airbase in northern South Africa, after being driven across the border from Botswana; and anticipates Angola becoming a haven for wildlife with a non-intervention policy to allow wildlife populations to develop naturally and without threat, coupled with a policy of zero tolerance towards poaching.

Signatures by party: Labour 33, Liberal Democrat 16, Conservative 3, Labour/Co-operative 2, Plaid Cymru 1, Scottish National Party 1, UUP 1.