A total of 300 animals are understood to have been transported over 400 miles from a privately-run conservancy in southeastern Zimbabwe to the Victoria Falls reserve to give the appearance of a bountiful wildlife population which might prove attractive to safari-loving holidaymakers. But wildlife experts say that in reality, the country’s safari animal numbers have declined sharply amid a lack of funding for conservation from central government and rampant poaching. - Halil

“It’s outrageous that the UN is allowing itself to be used like this as a propaganda tool,” Hillel Neuer, its executive director, said. The arrival in Victoria Falls of 151 wildebeests, 100 impalas, 60 zebras, 25 eland and 10 giraffes from the Save Valley Conservancy in Masvingo province, has provoked further dismay. - Halil