First Cecil The Lion,now his brother Jericho killed.

[Lisa O`Brien]

Cecil The Lion`s brother,Jericho,has been killed by poachers. Just so sad. And so wrong.

Edited August 1, 2015 by Lisa O`Brien

[Fiz]

I have heard that this is now being queried. I really hope Jericho is still alive.

[sarahw]

I don't get the trophy hunters thing at all. The (mostly) men who pay to do it seem pretty inadequate if they feel the need to do this.

[Balletfanp]

Apparently he is OK.

[LinMM]

I don't understand it either what on earth does it prove? Poor lions and so few left now too

[taxi4ballet]

News reaches me of:

 

Someone in America injured by his own bullet which ricocheted off an armadillo...

 

and an elephant-hunter in Africa who has been trampled by the elephant he was trying to shoot.

 

I would say "Serves you right", but I don't really need to, do I?

[AnneMarriott]

News reaches me of:

 

Someone in America injured by his own bullet which ricocheted off an armadillo...

 

and an elephant-hunter in Africa who has been trampled by the elephant he was trying to shoot.

 

I would say "Serves you right", but I don't really need to, do I?

Sorry about the injuries and so on but that's given me the best laugh all day. Edited August 3, 2015 by AnneMarriott

[Balletfanp]

Sometimes karma is a wonderful thing.

[Melody]

A friend of ours has been to South Africa on one of these hunts - came back with a bunch of assorted antelope heads a few years ago. Last I heard, he was wanting to go back to shoot a predator of some sort. He's full of rationalisations about how controlled hunting is the only thing keeping the parks open and the economy going and all that stuff, but I highly doubt he's really doing it for such public-spirited reasons. I hope this furore over Cecil might make him think twice about it, but the gun culture over here is so pervasive that I sort of doubt it.

 

I guess when lions, leopards, rhinos, and elephants have been hunted to extinction, it'll be everybody else's fault but not the hunters. Sigh...

 

And I loved that armadillo story!

Edited August 3, 2015 by Melody

[Fiz]

He's still your friend?

[sarahw]

Romm 202 for armadillos!

[alison]

And pangolins: they are particularly endangered, I gather.  Another case of Oriental medicine being to blame?

[Melody]

He's still your friend?

Yep. There's a lot more to him than his idiotic obsession with guns. Plus this is the USA, where having an idiotic obsession with guns is par for the course.

 

My dentist has an elk head mounted on the wall in his office - trophy from a hunt a few years ago. He seems to be rethinking his attitude though, from what he was telling me the last time I was there (before this Cecil business hit the news), but he was raised with hunting as part of his childhood experience and never really questioned it.

[taxi4ballet]

A friend of ours has been to South Africa on one of these hunts - came back with a bunch of assorted antelope heads a few years ago. Last I heard, he was wanting to go back to shoot a predator of some sort. He's full of rationalisations about how controlled hunting is the only thing keeping the parks open and the economy going and all that stuff, but I highly doubt he's really doing it for such public-spirited reasons. I hope this furore over Cecil might make him think twice about it, but the gun culture over here is so pervasive that I sort of doubt it.

 

I guess when lions, leopards, rhinos, and elephants have been hunted to extinction, it'll be everybody else's fault but not the hunters. Sigh...

 

And I loved that armadillo story!

Controlled hunting isn't what keeps the parks open and the economy going. That would be tourism, and people who like to use cameras rather than guns.

[Melody]

Yes, well, good luck getting that through the heads of people who are drip-fed all their information about this sort of thing from the National Rifle Association. Just about the worst fight I had with him was over the nonsense he spouted about the evils of the wolf introductions into Yellowstone and why it's a positive public service to lure them out of the park and kill them before they destroy the ecosystem and the entire economy of the western United States. All that, despite a number of published scientific studies as well as anecdotal evidence from park rangers indicating that the elk herds and the aspen groves have been healthier since the wolves were reintroduced.

Edited August 4, 2015 by Melody

[Jacqueline]

There is another of these 'trophy hunters' in the papers today, posing with her kill. In this instance a giraffe. Ludicrously, the 'huntress' describes the giraffe as a very dangerous animal, that can really hurt you. Yes, I expect if you invade its territory and threaten it, you can expect it to fight back. Not that it can put up much resistance against a powerful gun.

I don't understand the mentality of people who can see a beautiful creature, be it a lion, giraffe, stag or whatever species and regard it as a target to be destroyed, then posed with and hung on a wall, so the killer can say look what I did, aren't I clever. Well, no you are not clever or even brave. These poor animals have no chance of escape or defending themselves. There is no contest and very often, as with Cecil, it isn't even a clean kill so adding to the poor animal's suffering. Despicable people. 

The story of Cecil is sad and his killer just another inadequate human being. I hope the story doesn't just fade away and that it might make people think more carefully about what is done in their name, some people of course, you will never get through to - and all the terrible cruelties we as humans, dish out to animals every day of the week, from shooting a defenseless, wild creature for fun or the horrors that go on in an abattoir and any number of other atrocities, most of which are hidden away so we don't have to think about them.

[capybara]

About 10 years ago, I stayed in a B & B in Homer, Alaska where the owner was a keen hunter - and, in fact, just going off on another shoot. The excellent bedroom that we had, the sitting room, and the breakfast room were all bedecked with trophy heads. Those in the bedroom were particularly beautiful which made it doubly upsetting. But hunting was clearly in the owner's DNA and that of many (most?) Alaskans.

[Fiz]

Ty, who manufacture Beanie Babies, are planning to issue a commerative Cecil the Lion Beanie Baby. It might be a tad cynical but I still think I shall buy one. Awful as Cecil's death undoubtedly is, it has brought the plight of endangered wildlife, canned hunting and trophy hunting to world attention.

[Sim]

I hope the profits are going to an animal conservation charity?! I hope they aren't just capitalising on this tragedy for their own profit....

[Jan McNulty]

This article says Ty will be donating all the profits to Oxford University Wildlife Conservation Research Unit:

 

http://fortune.com/2015/08/03/cecil-lion-beanie-baby/

[Sim]

I am so glad to hear that, Janet!

[taxi4ballet]

Good news - I see on Facebook that Delta Airlines will no longer be shipping big game 'trophies' on their aircraft.

[Sim]

Nor will American and United. This ban should have been in existence many, many years ago. At least the horror of Cecil's murder is being mitigated by the changes that are taking place, and heightened public awareness of this savagery.

[alison]

Isn't it amazing what social media can accomplish when it tries?

[Fiz]

Virgin Airlines and BA have said they will not carry trophy freight either. It seems very late in the day but is no less welcome. It is so good to see the internet being used as a force for good.