February 13, 2020
Mr. Sami Bin Ali Sindi Director General samibinalisindi@saudia.com
Dr. Ghassan bin Abdulrahman Al-Shebl Chairman, Board of Directors ghassanbinabdulrahmanalshebl@saudia.com
Mr. Jaan Albrecht Chief Executive Officer jaanalbrecht@saudia.com
Mr. Per Hojland Executive Director, Cargo Operations perhojland@saudia.com
Mr. Rainer Mueller Regional Director rainermueller@saudia.com
SAUDIA AIRLINES P.O. BOX 620
JEDDAH 21231 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Saudia City, Al Rawdah Street, Al Khalidiah District JEDDAH 23421- 2229
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Saleh N. Al-Jasser
Minister of Transport
Riyadh, King AbdulAziz road P.O. Box 12628
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia PRTMINISTER@MOT.GOV.S
CITES DECISION REGARDING TRANSPORT OF AFRICAN ELEPHANTS FROM ZIMBABWE AND BOTSWANA
Dear Mr. Sindi, Dr. Al-Shebl, Mr. Albrecht, Mr. Hojland, Mr. Mueller, and Mr. Al-Jasser:
On October 24, 2019 SAUDI Airlines, via its subsidiary, SAUDIA Cargo, shipped 32 live, wild-caught African elephants from Victoria Falls Airport in Zimbabwe (1) to China on flight number SV3049 (2). We write to inform you of a decision approved by the parties to the
(1) Roland Oliphant, Young elephants flown out of Zimbabwe after being ‘secretly’ removed from national park, The Telegraph, Oct. 24, 2019. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/10/24/young-elephants-flown-zimbabwe-secretly- removed-national-park/
(2) Zim Baby Elephants: from the comfort of the jungle to ‘steel prisons’ in China, The Standard, Nov. 10, 2019. Available at: https://www.thestandard.co.zw/2019/11/10/zim-baby-elephants- comfort-jungle-steel-prisons-china/
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) that restricts future shipments of this nature. Specifically, the transport of live, wild-caught elephants from Zimbabwe and Botswana is now limited solely to countries within the species’ natural and historical range in Africa, with certain narrow exceptions. We respectfully request that SAUDIS Airlines adopt a policy consistent with the CITES decision, which at a minimum prohibits the shipment of live, wild-caught African elephants to countries outside the species’ natural and historical range. Such a policy could include narrow exceptions when such transfer will provide demonstrable in-situ conservation benefits for African elephants, or in the case of temporary transfer in emergencies as determined by the CITES Secretariat.
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