Canned Hunting in South Africa Condemned...
Stardate 4769.3
I had a farm in Africa...
Well actually it wasn't a farm at all, but it was Africa. Swaziland to be precise. When I was growing up, I lived there for 4 years. One of my fondest memories was our trips to Kruger National Park, in the Republic of South Africa. We ould go for 3 day trips, staying in the "Camps" overnight, and if we were very lucky, we would see a kill, where lions or cheetahs basked after killing a springbok. There were always water holes, and you could see hippos or giraffe refreshing themselves with a cornicopia of other creatures, ranging from birds and crocs to elephants and hyenas.
That is what hunting in South Africa meant to me, when I was barely a teenager, and knew little of poaching and other practices that are common place today.
Recently, a panel of experts in South Africa has condemned the "canned hunting" of animals, where tourists can come and hunt animals bred in captivity for sport or sale. Many of these animals realistically have no chance of escaping these hunters, and some, such as zebra, are bred with donkeys to ensure a slower product for easier hunting. Many of these hunters use bows as well, killing everything from birds to rhinos. Imagine the pain and suffering a rhino would endure after being shot several times with a bow before it would finally expire...
Some statistics show just how widespread and popular this disgusting form of tourism is. 190 lions were slain last year by tourists, 5,500 kudus, 45 leopards.... These hunters killed baboons, giraffes, elephants, hippos, mongooses, porcupines, warthogs and zebras...
The breeders use cross-breeding methods to give hunters a better chance. Either producing more albino lions for bigger prize money, or the "zonkey" as mentioned above... By doing this, they risk altering the natural biodiversity and ecosystem of the Parks.
The panel maintains, and I agree, that legitimate hunting of wildlife is integral to the South African economy, but they simply must place controls on the sport. The inhumane treatment and manipulation of these animals should not be acceptable in any nation.
The industry is important to the country's economy, but is mainly white-dominated.
I had a farm in Africa...Well actually it wasn't a farm at all, but it was Africa. Swaziland to be precise. When I was growing up, I lived there for 4 years. One of my fondest memories was our trips to Kruger National Park, in the Republic of South Africa. We ould go for 3 day trips, staying in the "Camps" overnight, and if we were very lucky, we would see a kill, where lions or cheetahs basked after killing a springbok. There were always water holes, and you could see hippos or giraffe refreshing themselves with a cornicopia of other creatures, ranging from birds and crocs to elephants and hyenas.
That is what hunting in South Africa meant to me, when I was barely a teenager, and knew little of poaching and other practices that are common place today.
Recently, a panel of experts in South Africa has condemned the "canned hunting" of animals, where tourists can come and hunt animals bred in captivity for sport or sale. Many of these animals realistically have no chance of escaping these hunters, and some, such as zebra, are bred with donkeys to ensure a slower product for easier hunting. Many of these hunters use bows as well, killing everything from birds to rhinos. Imagine the pain and suffering a rhino would endure after being shot several times with a bow before it would finally expire...
Some statistics show just how widespread and popular this disgusting form of tourism is. 190 lions were slain last year by tourists, 5,500 kudus, 45 leopards.... These hunters killed baboons, giraffes, elephants, hippos, mongooses, porcupines, warthogs and zebras...
The breeders use cross-breeding methods to give hunters a better chance. Either producing more albino lions for bigger prize money, or the "zonkey" as mentioned above... By doing this, they risk altering the natural biodiversity and ecosystem of the Parks.
The panel maintains, and I agree, that legitimate hunting of wildlife is integral to the South African economy, but they simply must place controls on the sport. The inhumane treatment and manipulation of these animals should not be acceptable in any nation.
The industry is important to the country's economy, but is mainly white-dominated.
posted by Zaphod at 3:13 PM
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