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为刚果民主共和国支付军装送了一批动物到中国野生动物园
(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.
◎据信已送出35头大象小牛，8头狮子，十多头鬣狗和一头长颈鹿
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.
◎津巴布韦总统与刚果民主共和国总统有紧☆密★的关系
自从1997，津巴布韦派遣部队镇压由卢旺达，乌干达和布隆迪支持的叛乱
There are fears that the elephants could be used to start an ivory-farming
operation in China.
◎有人担心这些大象会被用来在中国开办象牙养殖业
They were captured at the Hwange National Park and flown out of the country
in a Russian-registered Boeing 747 belonging to AirBridge Cargo.
◎他们在Hwange国家公园被捕获，由俄罗斯注册的AirBridge货物的波音747载出
The plane stopped in Moscow en route to Shanghai and the animals were finally
released at the Chimelong safari park in Guangzhou.
◎飞机飞到莫斯科再转上海最后到答广州的长隆野生动物园
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”.
◎津巴布韦的野生动物官员说此举可以减少负担过重的公园压力和与当地社区的冲突
但是野生动物专家说这个举动疯狂又残忍
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就在监控交易的Nick Lynch说
这笔交易涉及中国外籍社区的“流氓元素”（rogue elements）
而中国当局正在采取措施铲除非法野生动物交易
“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补充说明的东西
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”.
◎两个主要反对派团体批评"我们的大象迁移到奇怪的环境"
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.
◎尽管国家正面临现金危机导致无法支付公务员这个月的薪水
总统与他的快乐伙伴(家人与随行)目前在新加坡欢度一个高达数百万英镑的假期
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/zimbabwark-to-settle-mugabe-debt-vww9ctqrb