Is another head hunt coming?

[FishingMOM]

It is an image that will haunt conservationists: one of Africa’s most majestic creatures lying dead on the ground as a white Western hunter poses proudly by its side.

Barely three months after the shooting of Cecil the lion provoked anger from animal lovers around the world, a German hunter has shot dead one of the largest elephants seen in Zimbabwe.

The elephant was estimated to have been between 40 and 60 years old. Its tusks confirmed its exceptional nature, weighing a combined 120 pounds (54 kilograms).

This was a legal hunt and the client did nothing wrong. We hunters have thick skins.

It was shot on October 8 in a private hunting concession bordering Gonarezhou National Park by a hunter who paid US$60,000 (C$77,000) for a permit and was accompanied by a local hunter.

The unnamed German had travelled to Zimbabwe to conduct a 21-day game hunt including the “Big Five” of elephants, leopards, lions, buffalo and rhinoceros.

The kill was celebrated in hunting forums around the world, where it was suggested it might have been the biggest elephant killed in Africa for almost 20 years.

Conservationists in the area expressed their outrage, saying the animal was one of a kind. Anthony Kaschula, who operates a photographic safari firm in Gonarezhou, said: “Individual elephants such as these should be accorded their true value as a national heritage and should be off limits to hunting.”

Unlike Cecil, shot by an American dentist in Hwange National Park using a bow and arrow in July, the elephant’s origin was not immediately known with speculation it may have come up from South Africa.

Louis Muller, chairman of the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters & Guides Association, said the hunter hadn’t realized how big his prey was. “He told me when he and his client were stalking this elephant he saw the tusks were big but did not realize just how big until afterwards and he saw them close,” he told the Daily Telegraph.

He said his organization had previously suggested that exceptional elephants should be collared to protect them from hunting.

The man who helped arrange the hunt, who did not want to be named, defended his client. “This was a legal hunt and the client did nothing wrong,” he said. “We hunters have thick skins.”

He said the hunt was “good for Zimbabwe” as 70 per cent of the fees went to the local community.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe National Parks has called for stiffer penalties for poachers after 26 elephants killed by cyanide poisoning were found in the Hwange National Park.

[rembo]

So,..what was the elephant's name again?

[FishingMOM]

Originally Posted by rembo

So,..what was the elephant's name again?

I dont think they named this one

[avb3]

Originally Posted by rembo

So,..what was the elephant's name again?

Jumbo or Dumbo or sumtin' like that.

[deerguy]

" a white western hunter" yeah, standing next to the Black guy that guide him. Why the hell do white people seem to get blamed for everything that goes wrong but get no credit if something goes right.

[AB2506]

A 60lb elephant is not particularly rare or exceptional. At that age it is on the decline as a breeder.

What is the fuss? There are headlines on some articles with that photo that state the bull was culled. There are allegations that it was killing other bulls so the local authorities asked that this bull be targeted for harvest.

[bridger2010]

About 14 paragraphs for 1 elephant taken by a hunter. 1 paragraph re the killing of 26 by cyanide poisoning. Seems proportionate.

[Andrzej]

[QUOTE=AB2506;2998942]A 60lb elephant is not particularly rare or exceptional.

60 lb Elephant...I want one as a pet.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by AB2506

A 60lb elephant is not particularly rare or exceptional. At that age it is on the decline as a breeder.

What is the fuss? There are headlines on some articles with that photo that state the bull was culled. There are allegations that it was killing other bulls so the local authorities asked that this bull be targeted for harvest.

I thought it said being 128 not 60lbs.

[heybert]

Originally Posted by avb3

I thought it said being 128 not 60lbs.

Combined weight of 120 lbs according to the article. Hence, one can speculate 60 lbs per tusk, or close to it if they're similar in size and length. The article may have made a mistake because those tusks look damn big! Then again, I know nothing about elephant tusk weights.

[Sooner]

It's Harpers fault lol.

Man i hope it don't go viral, another legal hunt that will get the sheeple incensed but no one will say how the money and the meat from that hunt helps the residents who need it.

Notice no media has picked up that the hunter of that named lion will not be charged.

[sikwhiskey]

$60,000 U.S.???????????? Jebus Africa is expensive. Wonder if he gets to keep the Ivory?

[FishingMOM]

Originally Posted by sikwhiskey

$60,000 U.S.???????????? Jebus Africa is expensive. Wonder if he gets to keep the Ivory?

I wonder if that 60k was just for the elephant or for the entire hunt as he got the big 5.

[deerguy]

Originally Posted by FishingMOM

I wonder if that 60k was just for the elephant or for the entire hunt as he got the big 5.

Just for the elephant. Big 5 should run you well over 100k

[FishingMOM]

Now that this hunt has had time to hit the news the nutjobs have hit the comments calling for the death of the hunter just like before.
One woman is threatening to shoot any hunter she comes across.....

[lannie]

Originally Posted by sikwhiskey

$60,000 U.S.???????????? Jebus Africa is expensive. Wonder if he gets to keep the Ivory?

No hunter is allowed to take any Ivory from their Elephant kills as an effort to stop poaching. Those tusks would be worth more than 70,000 on the black market I would think.This is what I have been led to believe.

[thunderheart]

still .. its kinda sad.... jmo.. no judgement

[Knownonscents]

Did they have a crane handy to prop him up like that?
I'm sure heavy equipment rental fees chew into that 60g a bit.

Also, if he's from Germany he's not really a white western hunter but more eastern.

An elephant sure could feed a lot of refugees. Especially one of those poisoned ones.....

[deerguy]

Originally Posted by Knownonscents

Did they have a crane handy to prop him up like that?
I'm sure heavy equipment rental fees chew into that 60g a bit.

Also, if he's from Germany he's not really a white western hunter but more eastern.

An elephant sure could feed a lot of refugees. Especially one of those poisoned ones.....

Germany is a Western European country.

[JD848]

What people don't think about is that if 5 hunters spend 500,000 and that money goes to guards and protection by armed game wardens from poachers is probably the only way to keep this wonderful animals from being wiped out.

If there were no hunters over in Africa that pay these very high prices up to 250,000 for a certain kill they would without a doubt be all killed and the ivory sent to china or where ever.

If we didn't pay for tags for the game we hunt and fish who would be out there to keep score and try to make sure it doesn't get to far out off balance.

Our moose population in north America is declining at a very rapid rate,only 10 percent of calves in many areas only make it,75 percent by predators and 15 percent from sickness and ten percent survival ,I have been watching this for the past 7 or 8 years,the wolves are all over and in Ontario they shut the spring bear hunting for years and now the black bear are all over plus killing the easiest to eat in the spring are new born calves.
The only way to correct this balance is by thinning out the predators by hunting,in the world we now live in hunter are needed more than ever to by tags and support the things that need to be balanced out and protected.Some of the best moose areas in Canada are now totally wiped out from sickness and wofves and bears.
Hunting to kill is not right but killing to hunt is what it's about.if we don't kill there will be no hunting.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by deerguy

Germany is a Western European country.

I did not know that.

[Knownonscents]

Originally Posted by deerguy

Germany is a Western European country.

Thank you for the correction.........
Generally speaking the western world is North America is it not?

however, Either way we interpret "western" in this thread, thank you........

[rem338win]

And then there are all of the things that this article will have willfully refused to report, like a local tribe/village coming out to take all of the usable meat, the money from the permit going directly to wildlife protection and conservation for the animals (as much as filters through the crooked hands of gov in that part of the world), the trackers and locals working for the PHs in the area, etc, etc.

And most of the free world still believes that the oliphants of afrika are nearly extinct of course (which is very much not true).

Good for him, and I applaud African hunting as much as I do any reasonable industry in any third world country.

[happy honker]

Originally Posted by deerguy

" a white western hunter" yeah, standing next to the Black guy that guide him. Why the hell do white people seem to get blamed for everything that goes wrong but get no credit if something goes right.

Lol...yeah...white people have been getting the shaft for centuries.

[HeavyD111]

Its legal, made the country some much needed $$, *BUT*you couldnt ask for a better picture to spark up the anti hunting anger. Is anyone surprised there are has been threats made?? Sometimes its best to just not use the camera..

[Ranets]

Originally Posted by FishingMOM

Now that this hunt has had time to hit the news the nutjobs have hit the comments calling for the death of the hunter just like before.
One woman is threatening to shoot any hunter she comes across.....

An anti-hunter taking up arms and hunting a hunter hmmm

[AB2506]

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/contro...r-hunted-pics/

Here is a balanced account. It would appear that he reports that the tusks are 120lbs per side. Now that is a rare elephant in today's Africa. Previous account indicated it was 120lbs for both sides. That is a good elephant, but not a great one.