| | Zimbabwe: Animal Cruelty PhotosNB: Most of the photos you are about to see were smuggled out of Zimbabwe. Mugabe is very sensitive to the truth getting out. They charge journalists US$10,000 for a VISA to Zimbabwe and US$1,000 per each day of their stay. This effectively keeps most news agencies, even the large ones out of Zimbabwe for most of the time.
Zimbabweans have told me that it is extremely dangerous carrying a camera or video camera around, and if the War Vets see you with one they will attack you and take it away. I recently spoke to a South African journalist who went into Zimbabwe illegally and who had to flee the country because the War Vets discovered he was a photo journalist. He lost a lot of his film footage in the process. I was recently told that the mysterious shooting of an American citizen inside Zimbabwe at a roadblock might be related to the fact that he was travelling around the eastern parts of Zimbabwe taking photos and gathering evidence of the destruction.
As you can imagine, getting hold of photographs from inside Zimbabwe is very difficult, and anyone there who ventures out trying to obtain them is taking a serious risk.
People have tried posting CD's or sending them by courier out of Zimbabwe, but they just go missing. So most of these photos which reached me were actually smuggled out of the country. I did manage to get some by e-mail.
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The Desertification of Zimbabwe
This photo comes from the Justice for Agriculture website (http://www.JusticeForAgriculture.com). It is a satellite image of Zimbabwe, showing land surface reflectivity, in the contrasting farm systems. High reflectivity, i.e. light colours, denotes land degradation and thus diminution in productivity. In UNESCO terminology, permanent or long-term reduction in the productivity of land is a desertification process.
NB: Botswana to the south west of Zimbabwe is largely a desert country, and South Africa to the south is dry and semi-arid. Note that Zambia (north west) and Mozambique (east) have a lot of vegetation. Note the degradation in Zimbabwe, especially along the eastern border with Mozambique. Generally speaking, more rain falls in the northern regions shown in this photo, and less rain falls in the south. Yet, you will see that the desertification is taking place even in the north. The reason there is more desertification in the east rather than the west is probably because the east is more heavily inhabited by people.
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Animal Cruelty by the War Vets
Nandi the dog was beaten and abducted, she found her way back to the farm. The side of her face had to be stitched after being badly lacerated.
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| | "Blackjack" the dog was beaten unconscious by war vets - his injuries were a fractured skull - fractured Tibia perforated ear and eye - A 12 inch axe cut behind his ear - he has made a good recovery, but will be blind for the rest of his life.
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