No Good Reason

Why do people hunt?

I understand that some people hunt to provide meat for themselves and their families. But what is the pleasure to be found in killing an animal for 'fun' or 'sport' or as a 'trophy'? I just read that in California's 2016 bear hunting season, 1,063 black bears were killed (grizzly bears were driven to extinction in California in 1922).

Another article noted that yet another mountain lion kitten had been shot and killed. Big game hunters pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the privilege to kill an endangered African elephant or non-breeding rhinoceros or giraffe or male lion, all for bragging rights and so they can display the head or body of the murdered animal in their house. And that brings them pleasure?

If these people are so proud of what they do, why do they refer to the killing as a 'harvest'? Harvesting is what is done to corn and wheat and strawberries. Let's be honest here, hunters. You are killing, not 'harvesting', animals.

And don't give me that BS about saving the species by killing it. Really? That's the best you can do? Or how about the lie that big game hunting in Africa benefits local communities? Sure, the outfitter in South Africa or Zimbabwe and his employee rake in big bucks, but how much of that cash actually reaches people in the local community? When I go on safari in Africa, my money does benefit local people -- the drivers, guides, cooks, trackers, housekeepers and everyone else who helps keep the camps running and the guests looked after. 

Here's another favorite excuse: population control of predators. With the numbers of mountain lions, grizzly and black bears, and wolves, lions, cheetahs, leopards and other predators decimated by habitat loss, poaching and hunting, and human intrusion into the animals' habitats, do people really believe these species' populations need to be controlled by hunting?


How about the claim that hunters like to be part of nature and they love the animals they kill? Or they like the challenge? Right, shooting a lion that was raised by humans from birth and set 'loose' inside a fenced area so it can be slaughtered in a canned hunt is a real challenge, isn't it? 

I like to be part of nature, too, which is why I travel to Africa and to Yellowstone several times every year. And I, too, love the challenge of finding wild animals, but when I leave, the animals are still alive. If I'm lucky, I have captured the animal in its natural habitat by using my digital cameras and my skills as a photographer. And the animals survive to live another day.

I am sickened on an almost-daily basis when I see yet another photograph of a human, usually smiling stupidly, proudly posing with the dead body of a giraffe or zebra, lion or elephant, grizzly bear or wolf, that he or she has killed. And when I see a photograph of a man who probably weighs 400-500 pounds posing with the beautiful male lion he shot, I know for a fact that this obese person most certainly did not track this wild animal on foot before slaughtering it. He undoubtedly was driven up to the lion by a guide in a 4-wheel-drive vehicle before shooting it. Some sport in that, huh?

The bottom line is, these animals are killed either for profit or for personal enjoyment. So-called 'sport hunting' is decidedly not a sport, but a euphemism designed to make it seem more socially acceptable, much as is calling the killing of wild animals a 'harvest.'  

For another look at the hunting of predators, check out this article from 2014: frfhttp://www.jhnewsandguide.com/opinion/columnists/the_new_west_todd_wilkinson/we-hunt-predators-but-we-can-t-say-why/article_2c0adcf0-9705-5a62-990c-4bdd7af8dbf8.html 

Murder in Zimbabwe

I am so incredibly heartbroken and sad -- and angry --after reading what Walter Palmer, a Minnesota dentist, did to Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe. Cecil was a beloved resident of Hwange National Park and a major tourist draw for Zimbabwe. He also was part of an on-going research study. At age 13, Cecil had outlived many of his contemporaries. Male lions usually only live to age 10 due to injuries sustained from fighting with rival males.

Luring Cecil out of the wildlife preserve where he was safe by tying some meat to the back of his truck, then shooting him with a bow and arrow and leaving him to suffer in agony for 40 hours before he finally killed him with a gun show just how depraved Palmer is. Then he skinned Cecil and cut his head off as a trophy. What a big man this dentist must be. He claims he hunts responsibly. To that I say, bullshit. It's highly likely that Cecil's six cubs will now be killed when another male takes over his pride.

According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, African lion populations have fallen almost 60% over the past three decades, and as few as 32,000 of them remain in the wild. So tell me again how killing them helps save the species.

I'm not a psychologist or a psychiatrist, but I believe that people like this dentist, who enjoy killing for fun so they can hang an animal's head on the wall, are seriously mentally ill. What kind of person does what this psychopath did? He now says (through his PR representative, because he's too cowardly to speak for himself) that he didn't know that he was killing a famous and important lion. So does that mean it's OK to shoot and torture a lion that isn't famous? And he said he didn't know that Cecil was wearing a radio collar as part of a research study. Really? Is he so blind he couldn't see the large radio collar around the animal's neck? And if he didn't know about the collar, why did he try to destroy it? As Sharon Osbourne tweeted, "I hope that #WalterPalmer loses his home, his practice and his money. He has already lost his soul..."  Dr. Jane Goodall, who has spent most of her life studying chimpanzees in Africa and has long been a voice for animals, stated that "I have no words to express my repugnance."

This so-called hunter has been found guilty of poaching before, in the case of a black bear, and he lied about that, too. So it's pretty obvious he has no morals, but he has total disregard for the law, too. 

Two Zimbabwean nationals are to appear in court July 29 over their role in Cecil's killing, and authorities want to talk to Palmer as well. If found guilty, the men could face up to 15 years in prison. No amount of money or time in prison will bring Cecil back to life or protect his cubs. But perhaps a harsh sentence will send a strong message that poaching will not be tolerated. And let's face it, Zimbabwe needs to do it right after the country's recent sale of 24 baby elephants to China despite international petitions and protests. As expected, reports from China already show the suffering and poor health of the young elephants. Only time will tell whether President Mugabe really cares about his country's wildlife, or whether, as many believe, he is interested only in lining his pockets. 

I love going to Africa to watch the magnificent wildlife. I, too, live to shoot these animals -- with my camera. The thrill is in seeing them in their natural habitat, doing what elephants or lions or zebras do. Hunting for fun and sport and trophies to hang on the wall needs to stop NOW. There is no excuse for this so-called 'sport.' I have seen photos recently that turned my stomach: a 400-pound man grinning stupidly as he posed with a male lion he had shot. Any bets about whether he actually tracked the animal? He was so huge I'm surprised he could get of the vehicle. Or the photo of the couple on their honeymoon proudly posing with the corpse of a zebra they had killed. Wow, what a way to celebrate a marriage. Or the American woman who grinned insipidly as she posed with the giraffe she had shot with her bow and arrow. 

We have become a nation of psychopaths, and that frightens me. We have indeed lost our souls.