Rich Americans With Guns! Oh MY!

LewRockwell.com ^ | Aug. 14, 2002 | Humberto Fontova

[Blood of Tyrants]

Botswana banned sport hunting for lions last year. Western greens had a lot to do with this idiocy. Take a headline last year in Britain's Guardian newspaper. "African Lions under threat from rich Americans with guns."

That's one thing I like about the foreign press, unlike the frauds in the mainstream U.S. media, they make no bones about being "impartial" or "even-handed." You pick up the Guardian, you know you,re getting the mouthpiece for the ghost of Leon Trotsky. Fine. They lay their cards on the table. I like that.....While we're on the subject, Trotsky, like Che, had it coming. Here's the original architect of the Red Terror in 1918. Twenty years later it came back at him like a boomerang as the "Great Terror" and planted a pick-ax in the middle of his skull. Serves him right. Too bad the hatchet man was a Red Spaniard rather than a White Russian. But I'm glad he got whacked nonetheless.

[snip]Here's one opinion from an African national, Paul Funston, of South Africa's Endangered Wildlife Trust: "The real solution to preserving lions lies in giving the local people incentives to tolerate lions on their land."

Bingo! You'd be amazed at the tolerance $30,000 (what it costs a tourist hunter in total fees to shoot an African Lion) generates in a country like Tanzania or Botswana where annual per-capita income runs around $150.

[snip]Last year, the first year of the lion hunting ban, "animal-control" officers in Botswana killed ten times as many lions (because of cattle and human depredations) than sport hunters killed the year before...

Click on the Source link for the entire great article.

[Black Agnes]

Che had it coming!

[dd5339]

Great read on the article!

Both my wife and I just finished reading Peter Capstick's "Death on the Dark Continent". It was one of those books we couldn't put down.

One of these days will just have to go to Africa for a safari. I've always wanted to hunt Cape Buff, (my wife likens it to a death wish!) She has said though, that if she can back me up with a pintle mounted .50 caliber machine gun she might let me go.

Semper Fi

[10mm]

Another example of how the Law of Unintended Consequences is absolute. When the hunting of lions was legal and profitable, the locals had a vested interest in maintaining the lion population. Now that it is illegal, lions are considered vermin and exterminated.

[Blood of Tyrants]

If you can afford an African Safari, then you may as well get one of those old H&H double rifles in 4 or 6 bore caliber.

For those of you who don't know, the diameter of the barrel is determined as follows; a pound of lead makes 4 equally sized spheres for a 4-bore, 6 spheres for a 6-bore, and 12 for a 12-bore (more commonly called a 12 gauge).

[Salman]

bump

[Salman]

bump

[45Auto]

Pinks and Greens simply can’t argue with these facts: hunters fund more genuine conservation than all of them combined. So they argue with the motive. They don’t like that we conserve them in order to always have some around to whack. They hate this because they’re, simply put: Puritans. "The haunting fear that someone somewhere might be enjoying himself" is their guiding principle. There’s no other logical explanation for their lunatic crusade."

[Shooter 2.5]

bang

[45Auto]

Ruger No. 1 converted to .450 Nitro Express

[45Auto]

.600 Nitro Express, 900 grain solid bullet, 1950 fps, energy, somewhere near 7000 ft. lbs; recoil: a lot!

[45Auto]

Krieghoff Double in .500 Nitro Express, for those with discriminating taste

[Atchafalaya]

Read the rest, "Death in the Long Grass,etc." You won't regret it.

[goodieD]

Every single time the anti-hunting crowd bans hunting a particular animal, more of those animals die than if hunting was allowed. But don't bother them with the facts...

[dd5339]

Actually with a small child at home there is no chance of affording either the African Safari or an H&H, (unless I win the lottery that is!) If I did go to Africa I'd probably have to find something in a Magnum Mauser around a .500 Jeffery or so. Then again, I do kind of like having my shoulder attatched to my body.

Semper Fi

[dd5339]

All I can say is NICE! (and OUCH). I'm to busy drooling to say more!

Semper Fi

[timydnuc]

OHHHH! I got to get me one of them!

[GSWarrior]

These folk---who obviously know what's best for the African flora and fauna--are the same ones who trash America for its "cultural imperialism" and its Amero-centric culture. Does anyone see a problem here? Such as hypocracy?

[narby]

The watermelons aren't completly dumb. When the locals have eliminated all but a few of the big cats. Then they will be truely "endangered", and the greens can take complete control.

[decimon]

Lions face new threat: they're rich, American and they've got guns
Schwarzkopf and Bush Snr mobilise opposition as Botswana moves to save its big cats

Special report: George Bush's America

Chris McGreal in Johannesburg
Friday April 27, 2001
The Guardian

You might call the lions of southern Africa potential Bush meat. The former American president, George Bush senior, and his old Gulf War ally, General "Stormin' Norman" Schwarzkopf, are pleading with the government of Botswana to be allowed to revive their old alliance, this time in pursuit of Africa's endangered big cats.

Mr Bush is among prominent members of Safari Club International (SCI) who have written to the Botswanan authorities asking them to lift a ban slapped on trophy hunting of lions in February.

Arizona-based SCI describes itself as the largest hunting organisation in the world and people who do not like what it does as "animal protection extremists".

Mr Bush's former vice-president, Dan Quayle, is also among the signatories along with Gen Schwarzkopf. Both men went hunting in Botswana last year, although it is not known if they bagged lions on that occasion.

Rich Americans, Europeans and Japanese pay about £20,000 a time to kill a lion in Botswana. The government usually permits the shooting of about 50 lions a year by trophy hunters but decided to impose the ban in part because American shooters favour lions with thick manes for their walls, leading to a disproportionate killing of mature males.

The shortage of such beasts is now so great that hunters have been making use of a mane-extension service back in the US where fake hair is weaved in to give their trophies an extra flourish before they hang the heads.

Among those who campaigned for a ban on lion hunting in Botswana is Derek Joubert, the country's leading chronicler of big cats.

"I've been studying lions in northern Botswana for 20 years and watching them systematically decline in population size and health primarily, perhaps even solely, as the result of hunting," he said.

"We've also seen some bizarre situations arising. Hunters target the primary males. When they disappear the male cubs don't leave the pride, they're not chased out. So we've seen these young males breeding with their sisters and their mothers because the trophy males have been killed."

Mr Joubert estimates that the number of lions in Botswana has declined by about two-thirds in 10 years. That is average for the continent.

Exact numbers of lions are notoriously difficult to measure but there is broad consensus among conservationists and governments that the population in Africa has fallen from about 50,000 to less than 15,000 over the past decade. The surviving lions are largely confined to four viable populations in southern and east Africa.

Peasant farmers also had a hand in the Botswana ban. The government had already forbidden them to shoot lions that attack cattle. The farmers said it was unfair to permit rich hunters to go on killing lions for sport when peasants were prevented from protecting their precious livestock.

"There's no other reason to shoot a lion other than ego. As a hunter you want to feel great so you can hang it on the wall and your mates say: 'Wow, what a man'," Mr Joubert said. "I'm not particularly anti-hunting. I can't personally see the point in going out and shooting a lion. But I do have a problem with the ethics of it and the sustainability of it."

The nature of lion hunting has changed from colonial days. Faster vehicles and high powered rifles have further reduced the already bad odds against the animals. On top of that, the idea of three week hunts deep into the bush in the hope, but not necessarily the expectation, of bagging something big have given way to the concept of a sure kill.

"It's very difficult for a professional hunter to turn around to some guy who's paid $30,000 to kill a lion and say: 'Don't shoot that one he's too young, he's not ready'. The guy's going to say, I came here to kill a lion and that's what I'm going to do," said Mr Joubert.

At least there is still something of the hunt left in Botswana. South Africa offers the notorious "canned lion" service in which a trapped animal is virtually delivered to the barrel of a gun.

Many of the lions are bred in captivity solely as bait for hunters and then hardly pursued at all. They are released into what are no more than fields surrounded by fences and "hunted". They have no chance of escape.

On one occasion captured on video a lioness was separated from her cubs and shot just yards away. Last year a pride of problem lions - they had been eating livestock - in the state-owned Kruger National Park was sold to a hunting tour operator for delivery to his clients.

Tales of horrendous suffering by the animals abound. Some supposed hunters are so inexpert with guns that they take a dozen shots to kill a lion.

Sometimes the killing takes place on the same game farms that foreign tourists believe to be conservation centres. While the parks emphasise the breeding of lions to the visitors waving cameras, over the hill the hunters are shooting them with guns. The state-run South African tourist board even advertised "canned lion" hunts.

"Go for the ultimate trophy and score in South Africa," said one advert. "It is always in season in South Africa, where the world's finest hunting is in the bag."

Opponents of the ban in Botswana say it will have a big effect on the local economy. Lion hunting is estimated to be worth about £3m a year but most of the profits go to hunting operators.

The government earns just £1,500 for each lion bagged, a fraction of what the hunter pays, even though all hunting takes place on state-owned reserves and the animals are the property of the government.

Safari Club International, which calls itself a "charitable organisation of hunter conservationists" with 33,000 members across the globe, is unlikely to get its way. The tide appears to have swung against lion hunting in Botswana and conservationists are confident that when the ban comes up for review in a year it will be reimposed.

While SCI mobilises politicians, other prominent voices have spoken up in favour of the ban on lion hunting. Among those who have written to Botswana's wildlife department in support is the actor Kevin Costner, star of Dances with Wolves, about the devastating impact of hunting on America's bison population.

SCI referred questions about lions in Botswana and the prominent support for a lifting of the hunting ban to its chief executive, Rudy Rosen, who was not available.

But Gen Schwarzkopf is clearly a valued member. The organisation recently donated $10,000 in the general's name to a Grizzly bear information project.

Under threat from the gun


Rhinos


There were once hundreds of species but only five exist today and four of them are endangered. During the 1970s as many as half the world's remaining rhinos disappeared. Now fewer than 12,000 survive in Asia and Africa. The northern white rhino is reduced to only 30 individuals in the wild. In Africa poaching has been so ruthless that black rhino numbers have fallen from 60,000 to 2,500 in 22 years. Horn from African rhinos is worth£1,300 to £3,300 per kg, and horn from Asian rhinos up to £32,000 per kg.

Elephants


The demand for ivory was behind the decline of the African elephant, which fell from 2m animals in 1970 to between 286,000 and 543,000 today.

The number of Asian elephants have been reduced to between 34,000 and 51,000 animals in the wild. Hunting for meat, hides and bones has affected both breeds.

Orang Utans


Fewer than 30,000 exist in the world today, a 30% to 50% decline which has occurred in the past decade. The vast majority can be found in Borneo, where they are protected. Hunting for food and body parts has taken its toll and the trade in body parts, particularly skulls, continues despite the efforts of the authorities to eradicate it.

Tigers


A population estimate in 1996 was between 4,600 and 7,200 in the wild, and there are now no more than 4,500 Indian tigers. The Siberian tiger is the world's largest cat but only 200 remain, mostly in Russia. The demand for tiger products has increased with the bones and other body parts being used for traditional Chinese medicines and as tonics or cures for ailments.