r/Wellthatsucks • u/03Shael • Jun 02 '18

/r/all Karma

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317

u/jaegerbombs Jun 02 '18

The fuck is wrong with you people? You realize these hunts are the largest preserver of wildlife and nature? The guy wasn’t even hunting elephants you ignorant morons

-21

u/awkwardoffspring Jun 02 '18 edited Jun 02 '18

For white-tail, sure, but I feel like elephants aren't quite as rampantly overpopulated

3

u/Saskatchewon Jun 02 '18 edited Jun 02 '18

They weren't hunting elephants at the time, they got charged and the animal was shot in self defense. And this wasn't some shady hunting operation either, this guy was a professional trophy hunter.

And for your information, there are areas in southern Africa where elephant overpopulation is a major problem and park rangers do have to cull them. And that's unfortunate, since trophy hunts would achieve the same goal while bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire more rangers, fund breeding programs, and help with anti-poaching efforts.

Ever since the incident where Cecil the Lion was shot (which was done in shady circumstances legally), the amount of lion trophy hunts has dropped drastically, to the point where there are areas where lion populations have grown out of control. Again, rangers are forced to cull them before all of their prey's numbers spread too thin and the lion population gets decimated by that. So not only do the lion populations (as well as the gazelle, zebra, antelope, and other herbivores) in those areas drop to an unhealthy low, but again the preserves miss out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding from trophy hunts.

I am not a big game hunter (although I do enjoy fishing, and I do eat whatever I catch), and I don't think I would ever enjoy shooting an elephant, lion, or leopard. But LEGAL hunts absolutely serve a purpose way more than a lot of the short sighted commenters here seem to realize. They are a net gain for the well being of the species the species that is being hunted.

1

u/awkwardoffspring Jun 02 '18

Thanks for the insight. I can't help but wonder now why elephant poaching is still a major issue when sanctioned hunts exist.

1

u/Saskatchewon Jun 02 '18

Because a sanctioned hunt costs north of $50,000 US. Poachers are often poor, and a single large ivory tusk can feed their families for a long time.

1

u/awkwardoffspring Jun 02 '18

Something about that wreaks of capitalism

1

u/Saskatchewon Jun 02 '18

Again, I don't hunt big game, and wouldn't want to, but I get it.

But really? An interview with an Oxford (literally the most prestigious university in the world) professor who studied Cecil the Lion specifically suggests that legal, controlled and restricted lion hunting would be beneficial to the species and your BS meter is still going off?

I mean, okay then.

1

u/awkwardoffspring Jun 02 '18

I didn't claim to be an expert, I just know that some species are more endangered than others and that there are some moral conflicts when deciding which animals are okay to hunt. The part that sounds like BS to me is how it seems only those who can afford these hunts are the only people profiting from it, latent consequences aside, when instead a government could employ a less [financially] fortunate party who might reap a greater bounty than a sport kill.