The 18-month-old elephants have been captured from the wild and are intended as a present for North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il from his long-time ally, Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe.

Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said the elephants were being held in pens in the western Hwange National Park, along with pairs of zebras, giraffes and several species of antelopes bound for North Korea

Elephant experts do not think the young animals will survive the trip separated from their mothers, and if they do survive they are likely to die in substandard North Korean zoos.

“This new exercise has to be stopped. People under orders to do it are too scared to speak out,” said Johnny Rodrigues, head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force.

"We fear a pair of endangered rhino in Hwange will also be included."

Two rhinos given to the North Korean leader in the 1980s by Mr Mugabe died only a few months after their relocation.

At the same time, other rhino given to the Belgrade zoo in the former Yugoslavia died after contracting foot rot in damp and snowy winter conditions there.

He said conservation groups were trying to find out from civil aviation authorities when the airlift will begin and were lobbying for support from international animal welfare groups to stop it.

By Special correspondent