The Zimbabweans are due to have elections this year. Free and fair elections cannot take place until human rights and the laws protecting animals and the environment are adhered to.
The recent abuse of young elephants exported to China Zoos is a prime example of the Zimbabwean Governments attitude to its people and the environment.
Research over the years has clearly shown the parallels between animal and people abuse :
http://www.paws.org/human-violence-connection.html
"The FBI sees animal cruelty as a predictor of violence against people and considers past animal abuse when profiling serial killers.
National and state studies have established that from 54 to 71 percent of women seeking shelter from abuse reported that their partners had threatened, injured or killed one or more family pets (Anicare Model workshop, Tacoma, 2004. Created in 1999, the AniCare Model of Treatment for Animal Abuse treats people over 17 by bringing abusers and animals together. A companion program treats children.)
In assessing youth at risk of becoming violent, the U.S. Department of Justice stresses a history of animal abuse.
More than 80 percent of family members being treated for child abuse also had abused animals. In two-thirds of these cases, an abusive parent had killed or injured a pet. In one-third of the cases, a child victim continued the cycle of violence by abusing a pet.
A 1997 study by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Northeastern University found that 70 percent of animal abusers had committed at least one other crime. Almost 40 percent had committed violent crimes against people.

The researchers also compared matched groups of abusers and non-abusers over a 20-year period. They found the abusers were five times more likely to commit violent crimes than the non-abusers."