Big trophy, good price, no sweat
Not too long ago I received the above photos in support of a petition to Delta Airlines to ban the shipment of trophies from South Africa. South African Airlines has already done so.
When I saw the photos I immediately thought that these were the essence of capitalism – cost/benefit winning out over ethics. Then again, what do I know? I’m just a retired old crank living in Florida who put down his gun in 1967 after four years service and has not touched one since. I own no gun though I am going on 73 and live alone. My children own no guns nor have they ever seen one or touched one in the flesh so to speak.
There has been a drop in the hunting of wild lions in Tanzania and Zimbabwe over recent years. There is a simple explanation:
a) Cost. Hunting wild lions is expensive, and given a cheaper option in South Africa with “canned hunts”, cost-conscious hunters looking for bargains might be avoiding safaris that can set them back $100,000 to settle for a trophy that will cost far less than half that.
b) Both Tanzania and Zimbabwe have allowed shooting of lions at an unsustainable rate in past years, with the result that fewer and fewer lions occur in hunting concessions. In Tanzania, hunters were consequently shooting lions as young as two years old, a practice that is now no longer “allowed” by the Government though enforcement is another matter.
In Zimbabwe, hunters lure lions out of protected areas to be shot, and shoot lions within protected areas with complicity and corruption of the wildlife authorities. Allegedly, some hunting concessions in Zimbabwe are now so depopulated of trophy lions that they are importing captive bred lions from South Africa to be shot.
C) Success rate. Clients must pay for their safaris (but not the trophy fees) whether or not they manage to shoot a lion. Some hunters, a small minority, are willing to spend money on successive trips to finally shoot “their” lion, but the word does get out among the hunting community when increasing numbers of would-be lion hunters keep returning empty-handed.
So what to do?
Shoot “canned” lions in South Africa where they are bred in fenced areas – the “hunter” is guaranteed a trophy at a much lower cost.
Any “canned” lion hunter is guaranteed success, as every lion available to be bought is assigned to a particular client. There is no hunting season. The hunting operators generally “demand” a seven to ten-day safari, and the “hunter” might not be provided with the lion to shoot until some days have passed. The first few days are spent “searching” for the lion by the gullible client on the larger game ranches, but when the lion is set out in the right area, the client is taken straight there. Lions might have only been transported the evening before, and are generally provided with a bait to keep them fixed in a particular spot. As these are lions very used to humans, clients can generally walk right up to their target to take an “easy” shot.
“What does this say about all the “hunter-conservationists” we read so much about? They supposedly shoot lions to benefit the species by spending lots of money to employ people and benefit communities, build schools and clinics, and put funds in Government coffers to be used for wildlife protection.
But if they are defecting at a great rate from such high moral stances to shoot captive raised lions in South Africa, how serious about conservation were they in the first place? It is beginning to look like all they cared about was a lion trophy by any means or standards – underage, lured from a protected area, or captive-raised?”
In the early 1960’s, when Tanzania was still Tanganyika, I saw wild rhino close up – they were as easy to find as Kilimanjaro. No more.
Lions, tigers, elephants and rhinos are killed for profit by poachers and by the egos of “hunters” for their orgasmic self-gratification. They should be ashamed to leave such images for their posterity.
For more information on those working in Africa to save lions see:
http://www.lionaid.org/about-lionaid.php
————————————————-
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CFP0ZRyVEAA3-Bb.jpg:large
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/tv-presenter-slammed-photo-lion-killed-article-1.1519039
—————————————————-
The sight of the obese man and the stupid grinning woman with their ‘kills’ was repulsive indeed. If they want to test themselves, perhaps they should try to kill a wild lion with a short spear, something the Masai tribesmen used to have to do as a rite of passage.
My own father was stationed in India for most of WW2. He shot a tiger (from the back of an elephant) and an elephant (not from the back of a tiger), as well as eland, gazelle, and for some reason, a zebra. He would proudly display photos of these dead animals when I was young, and even brought back some trophies, including the stuffed head of a leopard he shot, which served as a rug, along with its skin.
But that was in the 1940s, and perhaps he knew no better. No excuse today.
regards from England. Pete.
LikeLike
I can forgive those in the 1940s – but you are right. There is no excuse today.
The “Gentleman” above looks like he “hunted” his lion from a truck and the grinning young lady was appropriately dressed – for her photo shot. She got a raft of shit on twitter after she posted that picture and was forced to close her account. Too much abuse. Too bad.
LikeLike
Having just returned from my second trip to see wildlife in Africa, I am dumbfounded by photos like these. How can you wittness such alive, curious, magnificent creatures and want to make them dead?
LikeLike
Got me Cindy. Show how brave you are – “hunt” close up with a camera – and no zoom lens allowed.
Regards
LikeLike
I agree completely with both comments above.
I read an article yesterday, about the slaughter of Merican bison. There once were 40 million bison that roamed the plains and far west. But in just a few short years, thanks to train cars loaded with blood thirsty “hunters”, there were less than 800 bison left. Of course, the white man’s reason for doing this was to also exterminate the Native Indians, who relied heavily on the bison for food, clothing, etc, as many of us know so well.
Unless people choose to “go off the grid”, and must hunt to survive, I see no reason, beyond blood lust idiocy, for hunting any animal.
I love the big cats, all of them, and it makes me sick to see low-life people, like these, making them disappear!
LikeLike
Agreed and thanks for the comments. Regards
LikeLike
Reblogged this on An Outsider's Sojourn II and commented:
Capitalism: rape, pillage and murder everything in sight, including beautiful wild animals that are on the brink of extinction!
LikeLike
It’s disgusting and they know it!! or, why else had the one big, “brave” hunter have his eyes blacked out for concealment of his identity? The killing has to completely come to a halt – a slow down is unacceptable!!
LikeLike
I’m with you GP – but it’s tough when there is money to be made and guys and gals who want to prove how “brave” they are. Killing a lion who was hand fed is just criminal – I simply don’t understand such people. Regards
LikeLike
White people traveling around the world killing and destroying to satisfy their selfish, twisted desires. Our culture is diseased to its core.
LikeLike
Can I have an “Amen”? Regards
LikeLiked by 1 person
A tragedy to destroy the beauty of creation.
LikeLike
Indeed Jalal. Indeed
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sadly this kind of colonialism has always been fundamental to capitalism – in fact many economic historians believe it was the silver and gold seized from native civilizations in Central and South America and the slaves seized from Africa that made industrialization and capitalism possible in the first place.
LikeLike
I hunt. For meat. Venison. My wife won’t eat the stuff. But I and my two sons (who do not hunt and have no interest in hunting) do like our deer chops. But the kind of ‘hunting’ on display above is simply disgusting.
As for proving your ‘courage’ by killing any wild animal, that is laughable. Animals, like humans, are risk averse and therefore present little to no danger whatsoever to humans, whether lion, tiger, bear, wolf or whatever. Of course, to get a shot, either at close or long range, the animal is always completely unaware of the hunter’s presence and thus simply sniped. Any so called confrontation or contest between the hunter and the quarry is but the product of overheated imaginations.
Then there is the matter of the trophy hunter being granted the right to harvest game on preserves for huge sums of money that do not benefit the local population but the operation of the outfitters. Meanwhile, the locals, who might have availed themselves of victuals are denied access to the hunting grounds. The rationale is ‘conservation’ of wildlife, but the reality is denial of access or the privatization of wildlife for profit.
LikeLike
Hi Norman – I have no problem with those who hunt in season especially if they eat the meat. And you’re on target when you note this type of “hunting” is disgusting. Regards
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Puppet Master's Slave Market and commented:
I piss on the flag of Empire.
LikeLike
That is the beauty of reincarnation as a system. Guess what all those pathetic hunters will come back as?
LikeLike
What did we used to say back in the day?
“Karma’s a bitch!!”
🙂
Regards.
LikeLike
Pingback: The Essence of Capitalism – Part II | toritto
Pingback: “White American Savage” | toritto
Pingback: Great White Hunters | toritto