Posted on 11/20/2013 9:56:55 AM PST by Impala64ssa
More than 250,000 people have signed an online petition demanding that South Africa deny future entry to Melissa Bachman, a big game hunter whose smiling photo with a dead lion has sparked considerable outrage.
The petition, launched by Cape Town resident Elan Burman, includes a letter addressed to Director General Mkuseli Apleni and other South African officials.
"She is an absolute contradiction to the culture of conservation this country prides itself on," Burman wrote. "Her latest Facebook post features her with a lion she has just executed and murdered in our country. As taxpayers we demand she no longer be granted access to this country and its natural resources."
According to Change.org, Burman's petition has 257,753 supporters. A Facebook group called "Stop Melissa Bachman" has more than 148,000 "likes."
"Stop the murder of wildlife for the sport," a message on the group's Facebook page reads. "Stop Melissa Bachman and people like her from pulling the trigger.
"An incredible day hunting in South Africa!" Bachman, a Minnesota native, wrote on Facebook and Twitter Nov. 1. "Stalked inside 60 yards on this beautiful male lion ... what a hunt!"
Big game hunting in Africa has long been criticized by animal rights activists, but proponents say the money hunters spend during their trips boosts the local economy, and supports conservation projects.
According to Grind TV, Bachman killed the lion during a guided hunt facilitated by the Maroi Conservancy. And according to Maroi, the hunt was perfectly legal.
“We do ethical hunting and all meat from animals hunted is distributed to the local community," a post on Maroi's Facebook page reads. "Funds generated from hunting goes towards fixing the border fence that was washed away in the 2013 floods, combating poaching, which is excessive in this area due to close proximity to Zimbabwe,
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
“The same logic applies to lions. For all intents and purposes they cannot run and attack as the people hunting them are at a safe distance.”
Exactly - spot one a hundred yards away and shoot and it falls to the ground dead. Then take pictures of the killer with his/her boot on top of the lion like it meant something.
Ah, tis nice to learn a little something new everyday. (pun intended)
If that doesn't bother you...
I move that we start a petition that none of the morons in South Africa who signed their petition be allowed to seek shelter or asylum in the United States when the locals there decide to put them on the menu.
“...if you know nothing about hunting dangerous game, speculating as though you do...”
The only dangerous game for me is if a human tried to break into my house. You can make a choice to hunt dangerous animals or not, I don’t care.
I know a man who gave up hunting deer using a rifle because he knew there was no sport in it, just aim, fire. So, he bought a bow and arrow outfit to put he and the deer on more equal footing. I suppose you prefer a rifle and drop the deer in its tracks without it knowing you are around.
You do understand that the skill of the hunter is
what kills it “dead”. A badly aimed shot just
makes it suffer. Not to mention a wounded lion
is not something you want to have to deal with.
Yes, I prefer it if the deer never realizes I’m there.
It means I am doing my job correctly and taking
the meat with the least suffering to the animal.
I usually give thanks to the deer before I begin
doing the bloody part.
Don’t usually do that in the supermarket but then
I don’t have a personal relationship with a pack
of beef.
Guess it’s just the way I was brought up.
“Put her out there without a rifle and then they are on equal par, tracking each other.”
Personally, I would not hunt some animals. When I was younger I did not think other people should be able to hunt certain animals. And I didn’t think some people should use hound dogs to hunt. Or hunt over bait.
But then when people object to using a gun to hunt an animal, I realized I was just like them. Once I learned a bit about using hound dogs, I can see where people that use them see the sport in it. Just as I see the sport in me using a high-powered rifle on a deer, or a shotgun on a pheasant. I suppose some might even think that using a rock or a stick is still not sporting enough.
It would be preferable to dying of starvation/disease due to overpopulation, dying over a matter of days due to a poorly placed shot (arrow or bullet), or dying slowly while being consumed by a predator/pack of predators, in the wild.
Nature is the cruelest killer out there. Humans hunting with rifles is quite tame in comparison.
I don't prefer trophies, not into that - don't really care if others do, as long as the animals are not hunted to extinction. I have no problem with hunting to eat.
Poachers are already taking their share and though it may be legal in corrupt South Africa I prefer they not be taken by thrill-seekers.
Now if this boy was a man-eater, terrorizing villages, that would be different.
I guess if you're a big game hunter, you need to kill 'em while they're still on the planet.
Just my opinion. ...good hunting, gotta run.
Katniss is a conservative!...
She hunts with a bow & arrow yet values life.
She loves freedom and is opposed to Big Government intruding in her life.
(We hunt whitetail deer at five times that range here, but not because they are dangerous predators).
Last I heard, there was no open season on inner city predators.
Hey Cajun,
When you get back to see how I responded your final comment, I’m sure you will be saddened to see that I left it alone.
The response would have been a dandy.
Thanks for saving me from that dandy last post.
Let's get back to trying to save our country from our dishonest president and his rabid followers.
“I have no logic for my opinion except it hurts to see that dead lion.”
I appreciate your honesty no end!
People are natural predators.
I am glad that she is willing to spend the money necessary in order to keep decent populations of these animals living in the wild. Otherwise they would simply be killed off and their habitat turned into pasture, farmland, or into urban sprawl.
“The point is lions are not over populated and don’t need thinning out.”
Sad to see that you have been misinformed on this point.
The struggle to maintain adequate habitat for lions is very real. If those lions are not valuable, then the habitat quickly goes away. The only viable method found so far to make the lions valuable enough to justify the maintenance of their habitat is trophy hunting fees.
Yea the money went to build a fence. To keep poachers out not necessarily the animals in. A border fence. And there are plenty of lions. So I’m sure they will breed just fine. As far as the “poor”, you would probably ask all the villagers who work as guides and trackers. Work in the hunting camps. Ask the villagers who are provided food from these hunts, and on and on.
And maybe I missed something but what “names” did I call you?
Also, these animals are not on a “ranch”. I know it’s fashionable to disparage Big Game hunting as “canned” if that’s what you are implying. It’s not. These animals are free range. Do you know what the “Big Four” are? Lions, Elephant, Leopard and Cape Buffalo. Know what they have in common. They will Kill You! And eat you if they get the chance. All except the Buffalo. They’ll just stomp you into little tiny pieces. So, yea, that’s part of the thrill, stalking an animal that if something goes wrong you are dead.
Also, kill it to preserve it is standard Conservation practice, not just in Africa. Really.
I would wager the money gained from tourists to see the lions year in and year out far outweigh one hunting license.
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