Guy accused of shooting celebrity lion on private property on which he was contractually entitled to hunt, in Africa…
…treats his own private property here in Minnesota like…private property.
I wonder how many Strib reporters could find Iran on a map?
How many people (even those who irrationally love lions they’ve never met) realize that the Strib could do this “piling on” thing to them just as easily and with as little reason. Is this the way a responsible news paper behaves?
It’s simple. They still don’t get the concept of private property
I’m am seriously tempted to start a kickstarter or gofundme to sponsor another big game hunt for this fellow (maybe a tiger to go with the lion and bear he’s already bagged) just to watch his haters’ heads explode in rage.
Western safari hunters, killing a few hundred lions a year, would have no significant impact on a population of 400,000 or even 30,000. The lion population is Africa’s problem. If the hunters are following Africa’s rules, then I can find no fault with them. Luring a lion a mile or two is a minor rule violation, which deserves a minor fine if proven. They don’t put fences around preserves. Animals move on and off them all the time.
Deer are hunted in MN because people like to hunt deer. MN sets the rules to manage the population, and hunters are responsible for following the rules. Please don’t be so paternalistic as to suggest that MN can set rules for itself, but South Africa can’t.
The great moral lesson to be learned from this event is: Don’t kill an animal with a name and an internet following, or you might be consumed in a wave of self-righteous indignation. Unless something else happens to distract the nutjobs.
Strangely enough, Emery, the manager of the preserve was interviewed on TV and his comment was that he supported the trophy hunts. His comment was that those hunts brought in a ton of money, and if it weren’t for them the locals wouldn’t support the preserve since they could only make money by farming the preserve. So his statement was that this particular hunt might have been questionable and should be investigated, but he fully supported controlled, monitored hunting.
I agree.
Do these crusaders find deer hunting in MN similarly objectionable, or pig slaughter for bacon? As long as the South African authorities are maintaining populations, as I believe they are, I fail to see the moral difference.
“It turns out Cecil the Lion was no choir boy. Photos had surfaced of Cecil in the act of killing and eating Gary the Gazelle. Gary was a favorite of both locals and visitors at Zimbabwe Hwange National Park, where he delighted onlookers with his trademark leap while kicking his heels. Gary was 12 years old and is survived by his beloved wife, Greta Gazelle, and 8 unnamed offspring. Gary’s long-time friend and confidant, Zeke the Zebra said; “a lot of people are crying over Cecil lately, but let me tell you, I’ve lost a lot of friends and family to him. He was an animal. I won’t be crying no tears.”
#gazellelivesmatter
It is a very odd thing to believe that people are the center of the world of animals. There is a tendency to believe that animals are only have alive, that they are manque humans. Animals fill their world as much as humans fill the human world. They don’t exist for the exercise of human moral conscience.
Emery’s exactly right – Cecil was significant only because of a British university connection. Had he been any other lion, nobody would have cared.
I got a chuckle out of people calling the hunter a coward. You do realize he shot a real live savage king-of-the-beasts LION by sneaking up on it close enough to hit it with a BOW and ARROW, right? We’re not talking elephant gun blow it in half from a safe distance, hunting; we’re not even talking English long-bow half-a-mile-hope-you-hit-somebody-in-the-crowd range; we’re talking stand here and take aim from a few dozen yards range. That’s a lot closer than I’d like to be. Crazy, maybe. Criminal, maybe. Coward, not hardly.
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