Anti Trophy Hunting
Elephant, lion, leopard, hippo, and rhino trophy hunting in South Africa
As you may be well aware, South Africa has recently legalized
elephant hunting. The "Big Game Hunters" of the world can now go there
and kill a magnificent tusker with impunity. I wonder what Nelson
Mandela feels about the following online ad by a hunting company.
Trophy Hunting Elephant in South Africa
Name - Elephant
Scientific Name - Loxodonta africana
Average Weight Male - 5500kg
Average Weight Female - 3700kg
Shoulder Height Male - 3.2m
Shoulder Height Female - 2.5m
Mating Season - Throughout the year
Elephant Hunting
Prepare well in advance, as this is a hunt where your
physical ability will be tested to the full. Walking great
distances, often in heat well into the 90�s (Fahrenheit) is
not an uncommon feature. There is a real possibility of
tracking an elephant that has insufficient tusks, only to
start looking for another one and tracking it.
Stalking could be tedious, dangerous and uncommonly long
as one would like to place the perfect shot. This hunt can
be intimidating due to the sheer size of the quarry, the
loud trumpeting sound and the breaking of foliage when
fleeing, or even worse, when charging. Average range would
seldom exceed 50 yards. Please listen to, and comply with
any instructions your PH has briefed you on before the hunt
commences.
My friend and elephant preservationist
Kristal Parks
recently returned from her last trip to Africa, and has taken some
wonderful videos of the elephants there - elephants in the wild and baby
orphan elephants playing in the mud in Kenya at the Mwaluganje Elephant
Sanctuary and Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. She has put some of her
video highlights on
YouTube. Check it out, and give Kristal and
the elephants some support.
The above same hunting site also goes for the Big Five (elephant,
lion, leopard, hippopotamus and even the highly endangered White rhino)
- see
http://www.africanskyhunting.co.za/. No doubt, George W. Bush and
Dick Cheney, both members of Safari Club International, are salivating
already.
An important point to consider about lion hunting is that the hunters
go for the big males. A big male may be one of two or three males
guarding a pride with 10 or 20 cubs. Killing this big male may cause
bachelor young males to defeat or kill the remaining pride male(s), take
over the pride, and in doing so, kill all the cubs. So, killing one lion
may mean killing one lion + 20 cubs.
But as long as they get their trophy for the rec-room floor, what do
they care?
Since 