The Death of An Elephant ... The End of A Dream

The last large dominant bull among the 120 desert-dwelling elephants left in the northwest deserts of Namibia was murdered earlier this week by a trophy hunter.

Yes, I said 'murdered,' because that's the only word that fits what was done to this elephant. It wasn't shot in self defense. It was going about its business, trying to survive. The official Namibian government response to the public outcry was that this bull -- which had never been a problem before -- had been declared a 'problem animal' and had to be shot by a trophy hunter. I say bullshit.

I have wanted to visit Namibia for several years, to see its wildlife that has adapted to live in the desert. Lions, elephants and giraffes, among others, manage to survive in the harsh Namib desert. I also was looking forward to photographing the amazing sand dunes and other landscapes. But the fact that Namibia allows trophy hunting using some bogus excuse, combined with its push to be allowed to sell its confiscated ivory on the world market, makes it impossible for me to visit that country. My conscience simply won't allow it. I will spend my money elsewhere.

That raises the question, which I and others who care about animals often ask -- how can someone take the life of an animal as a 'trophy'? The head ends up hanging on a wall in the mighty hunter's house, or the skin on the floor as a rug. Where is the thrill in shooting an animal going about its business? I once saw a photo of a young elephant that had been shot. It died with its mouth full of grass, so obviously the animal had been doing nothing more than eating. 

And it's not as if these mighty hunters with their high-powered rifles, large bullets and powerful scopes trek for days in pursuit of their quarry. No, they hire a local guide who drives them to the animal. The hunter then kills the animal and poses for a photo, all the while grinning like the moron he/she is.

How can anyone get pleasure from the killing of animals for 'fun' or recreation? In my mind, anybody who thinks this is 'fun' is a sick, sick person. There hasn't been any study of the psychology of trophy hunting, but there should be. If it's the so-called thrill of the chase, of being close to a wild and dangerous animal, why not 'shoot' the animal with a camera, as I do? 

I love going on safari. i love seeing the animals, observing their behaviors in their natural environment, and trying to capture their actions and emotions with my camera. I have photos of elephants and a leopard that I 'shot' in Kenya. I can look at those images and recall the thrill I felt when I saw the animals, and the sense of accomplishment I got when I knew that I had captured the memory with my camera. And the animals lived to be enjoyed by others.

My father, uncle and grandfathers hunted on occasion. They shot rabbits and squirrels, and we ate them. I wouldn't eat a rabbit or squirrel now, and I remember being sad to see all the bodies of the little animals. But I was a kid and ate what was served. My family members never hunted 'trophies' to hang on the walls. Hunting was just something they did, and the animals they killed never went to waste. There's a huge difference between hunting for food and killing an animal, especially an endangered animal such as an elephant, giraffe or lion, for 'fun.' 

I get it. Elephants are huge. They can be dangerous (although if left alone, they don't bother people). They eat a lot (some 200 to 600 pounds every day). They do sometimes come into conflict with humans, But why is the first reaction in dealing with any problem animal to shoot it? And why does the trophy hunting crowd, which spends far less in a country that allows trophy hunting than do tourists and photographers who want to see live animals, get to dictate the fate of animals? During my recent trip to Botswana, my three friends and I stayed in three lodges that employed untold numbers of guides, trackers, cooks, housekeepers, maintenance people and other support staff. All of these employees were from local villages. Tourist money keeps them employed and the lodges in business. And a solitary trophy hunter? He/she brings in money to the guiding company. End of story.

Killing an elephant doesn't just deprive tourists and wildlife photographers of the pleasure that comes from observing and photographing the animal. It also permanently removes that animal's lifetime of knowledge and experiences -- which would have been passed on to other, younger, animals. And since trophy hunters kill the biggest members of the species -- those with the biggest tusks or biggest antlers -- it also removes the genes responsible for those characteristics from the gene pool. When all of Africa's 'big tuskers,' with tusks weighing 100 pounds each or more, have been slaughtered, there likely will be no more big tuskers. The genes responsible for those magnificent tusks will have been removed from the elephant gene pool.

My hope is that some day African nations will follow the lead of Kenya and ban hunting. Perhaps some day these countries will value the wildlife not just for the tourist dollars they  brings, but also appreciate the inherent value of each animal. Elephants and all other species are part of an interconnected web of life that keeps the environment in balance and healthy. It's too bad human ignorance and greed always seem to outweigh the inherent value of the animals.