- More than 1.7 million animals have been slaughtered in the past decade
- Wealthy hunters are competing to kill the most highly prized creatures
- Some hunters are even shooting pigs from helicopters in latest US craze
Bloodthirsty trophy-hunters are killing one animal every three minutes, a damning exposé of the industry has revealed.
More than 1.7 million animals, including lions, elephants and endangered rhinos, have been slaughtered in the past decade, with wealthy hunters competing to kill the most highly prized creatures.
The devastating figures have emerged in a book which highlights the links between the £300 million-a-year industry and powerful global elites.
Trophy Leaks: Top Hunters And Industry Secrets, by Eduardo Goncalves, also reveals the latest craze among American hunters is to shoot pigs from fast, low-flying helicopters. It claims that:
- South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is a member of a breeding programme that has raked in millions of pounds selling rare animals to trophy-hunters;
- Almost 800 hunters have won the ‘African Big 5’ prize, an industry award for killing at least one lion, elephant, leopard, a black […]
I truly hate anyone who would kill any animal, large or small. I have seen “trophy rooms” in rich folk’s homes which made me sick, Animals should have rights, just like humans do.
We live in primitive times confirmed at every turn this being one of the worst. The idle rich who feel entitled to kill for pleasure are the lowest of the low. Once in a while I read of a hunter being injured or killed by his trophy and think YEAH you deserved it.
Obviously you have never hunted, other than other human beings. While I agree with your comments for “trophy” hunting, I completely disagree on the rest of your rant. As a society, we are facing the dilemma of urbanization at the expense of any connection to the outdoors, other than an occasional stroll through a “park”, a zoo, or maybe a once a year day hike. The consequences are predictable, and lead to the comments you have received so far. The idea that you can go out and shoot a game animal any time you want is ludicrous. I have hunted elk for over 40 years, and have had more than one season where I never even saw an elk, let alone actually getting one (which is less than 25%). The same can be said for other big game species as well (such as deer). What I did get on every hunt was a connection with nature that few will ever achieve, Quietly moving through the landscape attuned to the sights, smells, and sounds of the ecosystem. The same goes for a duck blind, how many people will experience the waking up of a marsh at first light, watching the transition through the day, without ever firing a shot (while enduring bitter cold)? I doubt you or anyone from the concrete jungle would do that, if they weren’t hunting (even if it was with a camera). The other point is that big game herds, and populations of upland species as well as other small game follow a boom and bust cycle. The state wildlife agencies manage the populations to stabilize the population and prevent mass die-offs that will occur in the leaner years without some population control.
I spend part of each day in the forest, and have spent much of my life in wilderness, hiking, rock climbing, backpacking, and months-long canoe trips in areas where I may see another human other than those I am with only once or twice or not at all during the whole trip. And I understand hunting for food.
What you are doing is complaining about the fact that you don’t see an elk much of the time you go hunting. That has nothing to do with my issue, which is killing animals for something other than food. Do you butcher and pack out the entire carcass of the elk when you do kill one? Do you then eat that carcass? If your answer to either question is no, then you are killing because you like to kill. And that is my issue.
I fully agree with Stephan as I have no issue with those who feed themselves or others with the kill. To hunt for “sport” or the thrill of being with family and friends when you bag the trophy is difficult to endorse in a dying world. The natural world does not exist for fun and profit for the human species. All species have rights to their lives as do we.
It is argued that hunting is needed to control the populations which don’t have predators yet hunters take the most strong and fit because who wants to bag a baby or an old or a sick animal those that predators would take. In central NC where I live there has been so much development over the last 25 years or so it may be the only way to control the deer population. We are the ones invading their living space and we see nothing wrong about killing them for our invasion.