20 April 2015

Test your schadenfreude

"A young bull elephant killed professional hunter Ian Gibson early on Wednesday as he tracked a lion for an American client in a rugged part of north-east Zimbabwe.

Mr Gibson, 55, one of Zimbabwe's best known big game hunters, died scouting for prey in the Zambezi Valley after a young bull elephant charged, then knelt on him and crushed him to death.

"We don't yet know the full details of how 'Gibbo' as we called him, died, as the American client and the trackers are still too traumatised to give us full details," said Paul Smith, managing director of Chifuti Safaris' which employed Mr Gibson for the hunt.

The American hunter was on his first trip to Zimbabwe, and only has one leg, but was "fit and strong" and had already shot a leopard. Mr Gibson was scouting for lions when he encountered the elephant."
It's not reported whether the elephant kept the hunter's teeth as trophies.

7 comments:

  1. DrGoatApril 20, 2015 at 9:57 AM

    Too late for the leopard, unfortunately, but better late than never.

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  2. AnonymousApril 20, 2015 at 10:04 AM

    :-) i am shading my froid right now. :-)

    I-)

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  3. JDJarvisApril 20, 2015 at 2:10 PM

    It's a sad story "Mr Smith said poachers from neighbouring Mozambique and Zambia were "very busy" at present, and professional hunters were the first line of defence for wildlife along the borders. "

    The poachers will kill far more animals than the professional hunters will. No schadenfreude coming from my direction.

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    Replies
    1. Stan B.April 20, 2015 at 3:30 PM

      Approximately 600 lions are killed every year on trophy hunts, including lions in populations that are already declining from other threats. These hunts are unsustainable and put more pressure on the species.

      Unfortunately, Americans are primarily to blame. Approximately 60 percent of all lions killed for sport in Africa are shipped to the U.S. as trophies.

      http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130802-lions-trophy-hunting-extinction-opinion-animals-africa-conservation/

      Delete
  4. WilliamrocketApril 20, 2015 at 4:29 PM

    Humans !
    Ruining the world for the others.

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  5. BarbwireApril 20, 2015 at 7:08 PM

    I simply cannot understand the "need" to kill magnificent animals for "sport".

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  6. MaiaApril 24, 2015 at 8:50 AM

    Stan, you should know better than this. You're from Minnesota, land of duck hunters; you should be familiar with the amount of habitat conservation done by hunting groups. Lions, like ducks before Ducks Unlimited, are endangered by habitat loss not recreational hunting.

    ReplyDelete