Case file · Sacred site
The Zimbabwe Birds
Carved soapstone birds from Great Zimbabwe, probably emblems of royal ancestors, were removed from 1889 onward and became Zimbabwe's national symbol.
1889 CE · -20.27, 30.93 · status: official
The account
The hunter Willi Posselt took one in 1889, and others went to Cecil Rhodes and to museums. Most were later returned; the last part of a bird held in Germany came home in 2003. Many Zimbabweans hold that the birds' absence brought misfortune.