Getting on the "fast track" to becoming a "soft target"

Jan 18, 2009

Animal rights activists say little of the money paid by hunters to kill elephants in national parks in Zimbabwe is being used for conservation efforts.

"Because of the corruption and financial situation I would be surprised if anything at all reached conservation or communities," said Michael Wamithi, spokesman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Hunters pay more than $10,000 each to participate in elephant culls, where the whole herd, including baby elephants, are killed, said Will Travers of the Born Free Foundation.

"These days it takes something pretty extraordinary to shock and distress as far as Zimbabwe is concerned," Travers said. "But news of the slaughter of elephants inside national parks still has the power to make you sick to your stomach."

The elephants strip areas of foliage and monopolize water supplies and killing the herd is the most effective method of population control, Peter Carr, a professional hunt organizer, told The Times of London in a story reported Sunday.

"Who is Will Travers and the Born Free Foundation? They are the people the Prince of Monaco got into bed with, while his sister was promoting care of animals in the circus with Cirque Du Federation Mundial. What kind of message was sent to the world about captive animals/circus animals by Prince Albert:"

Pitou and Sirius the leopards have come ‘home’ to Africa thanks to Prince Albert II of Monaco. For several years the brother and sister lived at Monaco Zoo but the Prince has given the pair to Born Free to enjoy a new life in their ancestral homeland. After Born Free vet John Knight sedated the leopards, the Prince helped administer pre-departure veterinary treatments and carried them to their special transport crates. Originating from a French travelling circus, the leopards have been resident at the Monaco Zoo for nine years.

On Monday 7 January, His Serene Highness Prince Albert, will officially hand over 2 leopards to the Founder of the Born Free Foundation and actress and wildlife campaigner, Virginia McKenna OBE. The Born Free Foundation is at the forefront of drawing the public’s attention to the plight of wild animals confined in impoverished captive environments and promoting through education and public awareness.

Over the years the Born Free Foundation has been able to rescue several big cats from situations where they are in serious danger and provide them with excellent life time care. Guests at Shamwari are able to see some of these rescued animals at the Born Free Foundation Animal Rescue and Education Centre.

The leopards, Pitou and Sirius (brother and sister, both 16 years old), have been resident at a zoo for 5 years and originated from a French travelling circus.

Monaco's Jardin Animalier, or zoo was founded by Prince Rainier. Prince Albert has begun to return the animals to the wild, and intends to convert the Jardin to a zoo for children. This project, undertaken in conjunction with the Born Free Foundation started after the Prince met the Foundation's founder Virginia McKenna for lunch.(She must be pretty influential and offer a great argument against.)

SOFT MONEY/OFFENSIVE DONATIONS:

I met a wealthy widow in Monaco the other day who was so pressed for space to keep her designer frocks she paid $1.5 million to buy the apartment below her penthouse as a walk-in wardrobe.

Sandi Tollman is an attractive blonde whose late husband made his fortune in smart boutique hotels like The Milestone overlooking Kensington Palace. Sandi today has a new partner, Emile, a handsome, youngish, Lebanese gentleman. Emile used to be Sandi’s chauffeur. ‘We knew something was up when Sandi moved from the back of the Rolls to sit beside Emile in the front seat,’ one observer told me.

Sandi is a friend of Prince Albert, Monaco’s ruler. She is also very generous. When she heard two leopards from his private zoo were being flown to a game reserve in South Africa she offered to pay the £50,000 transportation costs.

Sandi was at the zoo at 8 a.m. to greet Albert when he arrived for a photocall with the leopards before they took off for the freedom of the savannah. For 16 years the brother and sister leopards, Pitou and Sirius, have only known a life behind bars, the last eight gazing from their cliffside cage at Russian babe-magnet yachts anchored in Monte Carlo’s harbour.

Albert looked as if he needed support. But every time he faces the press it’s the same old questions about Monaco being a haven for money launderers and his refusal to hand over financial information about British tax exiles to the Treasury.

Albert wanted this photocall to go well. He has been trying to rebrand the Principality and attract a younger, more eco-friendly non-dom crowd than Philip Green and Shirley Bassey. Of course it doesn’t hurt that he has a beautiful partner, Charlene Wittstock, a South African swimming champion, indeed a bit of a Grace Kelly lookalike. Their marriage is being planned for September.

Charlene has supported Albert in setting up a foundation to act as a catalyst for environmental projects. This came after he saw the ice melting in the Arctic and hired Belgravia consultants to promote it at his new Mayfair consulate. Sadly, saving the planet didn’t seem to be what people wanted to hear about Monaco. Continuation of zero-tax rating, yes. Sustainable development, whatever.

Then a PR gift dropped out of the sky. The Born Free Foundation, the British animal charity, named after the famous film, offered to rehome Pitou and Sirius in Shamwari reserve near Port Elizabeth. Albert promoted this as an environmental breakthrough. He said the foundation was right that wild animals should be seen in their natural surroundings.

It’s amazing how two animals could do more for Albert than the priciest PR. Agency photographs of him helping to carry the tranquillised leopards from their cage were wired around the world. They said Monaco is changing.

Sandi and Emile made the long trip to Shamwari. Their Louis Vuitton luggage was lost at Johannesburg airport, but it eventually turned up, allowing Sandi and Emile to be the best-dressed safari tourists ever seen on the savannah.

Sandi said the insurance bill for her case would have been $100,000. ‘Well, I did have to buy some new dresses,’ she explained. Emile was wearing blue velvet slip-on shoes with a faux royal crest stitched in gold thread on the toe. Virginia McKenna, founder of the Born Free Foundation, was wearing the same desert boots she made the movie in 40 years ago.

Emile insisted on shouting encouragement as Sandi attempted to release one of the leopards from its travelling cage. It didn’t want to budge. ‘He doesn’t want to leave you, my darling,’ Emile shouted.’ You are more beautiful than the leopard.’ This wasn’t helping and the game wardens suggested Emile cool it.

For ten years their home has been a 20ft cage set into the cliffs of Monte Carlo.

But last week - for the first time in their lives - leopards Sirius and Pitou ran free across the plains of Africa.

They tasted their new freedom in a game reserve after being rescued from Monaco zoo following a five-year campaign by The Mail on Sunday and The Born Free Foundation.

Female Pitou, aged 14, set off with a roar after leaving her cage - while 13-year-old male Sirius had to be coaxed out before bounding into the veldt.

The leopards had been incarcerated at Monaco's Jardin Animalier after they were given to the late Prince Rainier by a French circus owner. The lack of space makes it difficult to sustain. My father was aware of that but he loved the animals and wanted them close to him.

"Now I think we have to think in different terms. The zoo's animals need space and a sense of freedom. Most of them have been born in captivity.

"The leopards are quite old now but if they can have a nice last few years, then hopefully they will appreciate that we can do that for them.

"It's time to rethink the mission of zoos, particularly when we can now see the wonder of animal life in documentaries."

The leopard rescue is expected to mark the start of transforming the zoo into a nature park and educational facility.

It is also a significant coup for Virginia McKenna, 76, who has spearheaded the campaign.

Virginia, star of the celebrated 1966 film Born Free, said: "It's a major move forward. I'm over the moon. Once you see a zoo it never leaves you.

"You can't forget the animals trapped in there.

Last week the leopards were tranquilised by Born Free's veterinary expert John Knight, who then gave them a thorough medical check, assisted by Prince Albert.

They were then flown to Britain before being transferred to a South African Airways flight to take them to their new home at the Shamwari Wildlife Reserve in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.

Virginia said: "Now they can live out their last days where they belong."

"Least we forget this is the municipality that OABA/Circus animal fund got into bed with last year, and the same place where the "famed" Monte Carlo Circus Festival is held, as they do there part for captive animals in the circus by ignoring them in their "awards process" and "helping" the world of circus animals with their efforts"