Trophy hunting
Trophy hunting is the selective hunting of wild game animals. Although parts of the slain animal may be kept as a hunting trophy or memorial (usually the skin, antlers and/or head), the carcass itself is sometimes used as food.
Trophy hunting has firm supporters and opponents. Public debate about trophy hunting often centres on the question of the morality of sport hunting and the question of the extent to which the money paid by trophy hunters benefits the population of game animals and the local economy.
Trophy hunting should not be confused with poaching, the practice of taking game illegally.
The hunting trophyA hunting trophy is an item prepared from the body of a game animal killed by a hunter and kept as a souvenir of the successful hunting or fishing expedition.
Often, the heads or entire bodies are processed by a taxidermist, although sometimes other body parts such as teeth, tusks or horns are used as the trophies.
Such trophies are often displayed in the hunter's home or office, and often in specially designed "trophy rooms," sometimes called "game rooms" or "gun rooms," in which the hunter's weaponry is displayed as well.
Big game hunting
A big-game hunter is a person engaged in the sport of trophy hunting for large animals or game. The pursuit of the major objective might place the hunter at risk of personal harm. Potential big game sought include, but are not limited to: bears, big cats, hippos, elephants, rhinos, buffalos, moose and so forth.
Opposition
In the 1970s and 1980s, people in many Western countries assumed a pejorative association regarding hunting for trophy.
Many of the 189 countries signatory to the 1992 Rio Accord have developed biodiversity action plans that discourage the hunting of protected species.
The League Against Cruel Sports has produced a report alleging trophy hunting does not have a positive effect on conservation. They suggest ecotourism can earn local communities as much as 15 times the amount of money earned by livestock, game-rearing or overseas hunting. Ecotourism increases the number of jobs and lengthens the time wildlife exists as an economic resource.
Source: Wikipedia
Trophy hunting has firm supporters and opponents. Public debate about trophy hunting often centres on the question of the morality of sport hunting and the question of the extent to which the money paid by trophy hunters benefits the population of game animals and the local economy.
Trophy hunting should not be confused with poaching, the practice of taking game illegally.
The hunting trophyA hunting trophy is an item prepared from the body of a game animal killed by a hunter and kept as a souvenir of the successful hunting or fishing expedition.
Often, the heads or entire bodies are processed by a taxidermist, although sometimes other body parts such as teeth, tusks or horns are used as the trophies.
Such trophies are often displayed in the hunter's home or office, and often in specially designed "trophy rooms," sometimes called "game rooms" or "gun rooms," in which the hunter's weaponry is displayed as well.
Big game hunting
A big-game hunter is a person engaged in the sport of trophy hunting for large animals or game. The pursuit of the major objective might place the hunter at risk of personal harm. Potential big game sought include, but are not limited to: bears, big cats, hippos, elephants, rhinos, buffalos, moose and so forth.
Opposition
In the 1970s and 1980s, people in many Western countries assumed a pejorative association regarding hunting for trophy.
Many of the 189 countries signatory to the 1992 Rio Accord have developed biodiversity action plans that discourage the hunting of protected species.
The League Against Cruel Sports has produced a report alleging trophy hunting does not have a positive effect on conservation. They suggest ecotourism can earn local communities as much as 15 times the amount of money earned by livestock, game-rearing or overseas hunting. Ecotourism increases the number of jobs and lengthens the time wildlife exists as an economic resource.
Source: Wikipedia
Is trophy hunting a form of serial killing?
By Gareth Patterson - Lion expert and conservationist
“For me - and the many people who contact me to offer their support - killing innocent animals for self-gratification is no different from killing innocent people for self-gratification. By extension, then, trophy hunting - the repeated killing of wild animals - should surely be viewed as serial killing. And in the same moral light humanity’s thinking is, I feel, beginning to approach such a level of morality.
What are the comparisons between trophy hunting and serial killing?
To attempt to answer this question, I did some research into the gruesome subject of serial killing. I learnt firstly that serial murder is a grotesque habit which analysts regard as addictive. Serial murder, I learnt, is about power and control - both linked to the killers’ longing to “be important”.
It appears when the serial killer commits the first act of murder, he experiences feelings such as revulsion and remorse, but the killing - like a dose of highly addictive drug - leads to more and more murders until the person is stopped. Researchers have discovered that serial murderers experience a cooling-off period after a killing, but as with a drug craving, the compulsion - the need to kill - keeps building up until the killer heads out again in search of another victim.
Trophy hunters are mostly “repeat” killers. This is further fuelled by elite trophy hunting competitions. It has been calculated that in order for a hunter to win these competitions in all categories at the highest level, he would have to kill at least 322 animals.
Pornography is perceived by analysts as a factor that contributes toward serial killers’ violent fantasies - particularly “bondage-type” pornography portraying domination and control over a victim.
Hunting magazines contain page after page of (a) pictures of hunters, weapon in hand, posing in dominating positions over their lifeless victims, (b) advertisements offering a huge range of trophy hunts, and (c) stories of hunters’ “exciting” experience of “near misses” and danger.
These pages no doubt titillate the hunter, fuelling his own fantasies and encouraging him to plan more and more trophy hunts.
Trophy hunters often hire a cameraperson to film their entire hunt in the bush, including the actual moments when animals are shot and when they die. These films are made to be viewed later, presumably for self-gratification and to show to other people - again the need to feel “important”?
This could also be seen as a form of trophy which mirrors in some respect pornographic “snuff” videos known to be made by some serial killers. Other serial killers have tape-recorded the screams of their victims, which were kept for later self-gratification.
There is a strong urge to achieve perceived “heroism” in serial murderers. This is linked to the individual’s craving for “self-esteem”. Student Robert Smith, for example, who in November 1996 walked into a beauty parlour in Mesa, Arizona, and shot five women and two children in the back of the heads, said of his motivation to kill: “I wanted to become known, to get myself a name”.
Multiple killer Cari Panzram (among whose victims were six Africans he shot in the back “for fun” while working for an oil company in Africa) once stated of his actions: “I reform people”. When asked how, he replied: “By killing them”. Panzram also liked to describe himself as “the man who goes around doing good”.
The “Stockwell Strangler” of South London in the mid-1980s who told police he wanted to be famous is another example of how the serial killer clearly confuses notoriety for fame.
Are the trophy hunter’s killings linked to the serial killer’s addiction to murder, to achieve what is perceived to be heroism, to deep-rooted low self-esteem, to wanting to be famous - the “name in the trophy book”?
Certainly one could state that, like the serial killer, the trophy hunter plans his killing with considerable care and deliberation. Like the serial killer he decides well in advance the “type” of victim - i.e. which species he intends to target. Also, like the serial killer, the trophy hunter plans with great care where and how the killing will take place - in what area, with what weapon.
What the serial killer and trophy hunter also share is a compulsion to collect “trophies” or “souvenirs” of their killings. The serial killer retains certain body parts or other “trophies … for much the same reason as the big game hunter mounts the head and antlers taken from his prey … as trophies of the chase,” according to Colin Wilson and Donald Seaman in The Serial Killers, a book on the psychology of violence.
In The Serial Killers, the authors wrote about Robert Hansen, an Alaska businessman and big-game enthusiast who hunted naked prostitutes through the snow as though they were wild animals, then shot them dead. Hansen would point a gun at his victim, order her to take off all her clothes, and then order her to run. He would give his victims a “start” before stalking them. The actual act of killing his victims, Hansen once said, was an “anti-climax” and that “the excitement was in the stalking”.
How many times have I heard trophy hunters describing their actions in similar terms? “No, hunting isn’t just about killing,” they say. “It’s also about the stalk, the build-up to the kill”.
Hansen was a trophy hunter, who, according to Wilson and Seaman, had achieved “celebrity by killing a Dall sheep with a crossbow”. He also trophy hunted women but, as a married man with a family, he couldn’t put his human trophies next to those elk antlers and bear skins in his den.
As an alternative, Hansen, it was revealed, took items of jewellery from his victims as “trophies” and hid these in his loft so that, as with his animal trophies, he, the hunter, could relive his fantasy-inspired killings whenever he wished to.
According to Wilson and Seaman, Jack the Ripper cut off one victim’s nose and breasts and “as if they were trophies, displayed them on a bedside table, together with strips of flesh carved from her thighs”.
Jewellery, body parts, clothing such as underwear and so on, are all known “trophies” of the serial killer. One serial killer flayed his victim and made a waistcoat from the skin as a “souvenir” or “trophy”.
What could the non-hunting wives, girlfriends, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers and children reveal of the nature and behaviour of a hunter in the family? Could they reveal that the hunter had a very disturbed childhood?
Almost half the serial killers analysed during behavioural research were found to have been sexually abused in childhood. Environmental problems early in life manifest in many cases in violence such as cruelty to animals. Maybe they have a frustrated craving for “self-esteem”, a deep desire to be recognized, a resentment against society? All these factors are some of the known links to the profile of the serial killer.
Lastly, serial killing has been described as a “20th-Century phenomenon”. The same could be said of Western trophy hunting in Africa.”
Serial killers are generally, but not always, male.
This is Michelle Leqve, an air hostess who - judging by the amount of self publicity - is relishing her new found notoriety and proud achievement of being one of the first women to slaughter a polar bear with a high powered bow and a lot of help from dogs.
The exhausted polar bear was chased across miles of open snow and finally brought to bay by a team of husky’s on her hunting trip to Canada.
According to Michelle’s own publicity and testimony she loves animals but unfortunately this alone was not enough to save the Polar Bear so she decided instead to shoot a number of arrows into his body, while the bear was trying to fend off the dogs.
The Polar Bear died amidst the onslaught and is now a stuffed exhibit in a sport shop in Canada
Canada is the only country in the world to legally allows trophy hunting of Polar Bears.
Michelle Leqve also writes for "Women Hunters" website, and graphically describes the murder of this bear, among other vile murderous acts upon other species. She is in desperate need of education - please drop by and educate Michelle on the spiral to extinction many of her victims are heading towards. Encourage Michelle to leave her weapons at home and go and see these creatures in the wild, up close: www.womenhunters.com/bio-michele-leqve.html
The exhausted polar bear was chased across miles of open snow and finally brought to bay by a team of husky’s on her hunting trip to Canada.
According to Michelle’s own publicity and testimony she loves animals but unfortunately this alone was not enough to save the Polar Bear so she decided instead to shoot a number of arrows into his body, while the bear was trying to fend off the dogs.
The Polar Bear died amidst the onslaught and is now a stuffed exhibit in a sport shop in Canada
Canada is the only country in the world to legally allows trophy hunting of Polar Bears.
Michelle Leqve also writes for "Women Hunters" website, and graphically describes the murder of this bear, among other vile murderous acts upon other species. She is in desperate need of education - please drop by and educate Michelle on the spiral to extinction many of her victims are heading towards. Encourage Michelle to leave her weapons at home and go and see these creatures in the wild, up close: www.womenhunters.com/bio-michele-leqve.html
Giraffes gunned down for family holiday 'fun'
A FAMILY poses for a happy holiday snap - standing proudly beside the giraffe they have just shot dead for sport.Tourists like these are paying tens of thousands of pounds to legally hunt giraffe, the elegant, gentle giants of the animal kingdom.
Many take the animals' heads home as a sick trophy of their African "adventure".
Giraffe expert Dr Julian Fennessey said: "Some come from Britain but the big majority are from North America, Germany, Russia and Scandinavia. Some hunters just like to have photos taken next to the dead giraffe. But others pay taxidermists to mount the head so they can take them home as a souvenir. Or they might want to take the skin."
The hunters pay up to £10,000 for the giraffe-hunting expeditions, which target the larger males. Safari clubs and game reserves ask for a £1,500 trophy fee and add £1,000 a day for guides and trackers.
The giraffe population has nearly halved since 1988 — falling from more than 140,000 to fewer than 80,000.
They are now thought to be extinct in places such as Angola, Mali and Nigeria. But in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe it is still legal to hunt them.
Joe Duckworth, of The League Against Cruel Sports, said: "It is immensely selfish to kill these animals. It beggars belief some people find it acceptable to kill them to have their picture with the dead animal."
Source
Many take the animals' heads home as a sick trophy of their African "adventure".
Giraffe expert Dr Julian Fennessey said: "Some come from Britain but the big majority are from North America, Germany, Russia and Scandinavia. Some hunters just like to have photos taken next to the dead giraffe. But others pay taxidermists to mount the head so they can take them home as a souvenir. Or they might want to take the skin."
The hunters pay up to £10,000 for the giraffe-hunting expeditions, which target the larger males. Safari clubs and game reserves ask for a £1,500 trophy fee and add £1,000 a day for guides and trackers.
The giraffe population has nearly halved since 1988 — falling from more than 140,000 to fewer than 80,000.
They are now thought to be extinct in places such as Angola, Mali and Nigeria. But in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe it is still legal to hunt them.
Joe Duckworth, of The League Against Cruel Sports, said: "It is immensely selfish to kill these animals. It beggars belief some people find it acceptable to kill them to have their picture with the dead animal."
Source
Hunting Giraffe Safari - Price $ 3,800
Did you know that they are offering you a hunting trip to kill lions, elephants, rhinos, buffalos, giraffes, etc... just for fun?
You can choose whatever animal you like. Most if not all of the animals are there. The smaller ones can be shot with a bow.
Here is a price list of all animals: Click here!
If you agree with us that this needs to stop, please click here to sign the petition!
Thank you!
You can choose whatever animal you like. Most if not all of the animals are there. The smaller ones can be shot with a bow.
- Price for Giraffe: $ 3800
- Price for Elephant: $ 34 000
- Price for male Lion: $ 22 000
- or why not kill a Zebra for just: $ 1750!
Here is a price list of all animals: Click here!
If you agree with us that this needs to stop, please click here to sign the petition!
Thank you!
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump
March 14, 2012.
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are the targets of more media scrutiny than Barack Obama's birth certificate after pictures surfaced online of the pair posing with wild animals they had killed on safari in Zimbabwe. Each "trophy" was procured for a fee—how macho is that?
Dressed as if to play extras in Rambo, the brothers posed for photographs, including one sick enough to make a grown man, other than a Go Daddy CEO, lose his lunch: Don holds his knife in one hand and the severed tail of an elephant he's shot in the other. An elephant! In another photo, Eric sits atop a Cape buffalo, using the animal's corpse as a gun and hat rack. Another photo shows both brothers standing next to a massive crocodile whom the Great White Bwana Boys no doubt had "the help" hang up by a noose from a tree branch. In a joint statement , the brothers said, "We have the utmost respect for nature and have always hunted in accordance with local laws and regulations." If this conduct constitutes respect, I really don't want to know what their contempt looks like.
Source
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are the targets of more media scrutiny than Barack Obama's birth certificate after pictures surfaced online of the pair posing with wild animals they had killed on safari in Zimbabwe. Each "trophy" was procured for a fee—how macho is that?
Dressed as if to play extras in Rambo, the brothers posed for photographs, including one sick enough to make a grown man, other than a Go Daddy CEO, lose his lunch: Don holds his knife in one hand and the severed tail of an elephant he's shot in the other. An elephant! In another photo, Eric sits atop a Cape buffalo, using the animal's corpse as a gun and hat rack. Another photo shows both brothers standing next to a massive crocodile whom the Great White Bwana Boys no doubt had "the help" hang up by a noose from a tree branch. In a joint statement , the brothers said, "We have the utmost respect for nature and have always hunted in accordance with local laws and regulations." If this conduct constitutes respect, I really don't want to know what their contempt looks like.
Source
March 23, 2012 - UPDATE:
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump's hideous African hunting trip is under investigation by Zimbabwean authorities. Among the potential problems noted by the Zimbabwean Conservation Task Force were the following: The brothers may have illegally used dogs to kill an endangered leopard, the South African safari firm they used was not registered to hunt in Zimbabwe and may not have been cleared by wildlife authorities, and licensing and trophy fees may not have been paid.
Authorities are also investigating the Trumps' claims that they donated meat from the animals they killed to local villagers, as there are no villages near where the brothers hunted. If they are found to be in breach of hunting laws, the Trump brothers and officials from the safari firm could face imprisonment or a fine of up to $500,000.
Johnny Rodrigues, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, said, "This is the problem with those who … think they can come to manipulate and control people, destroy natural resources, and say 'we came to help.' We don't want them here."
Hear, hear!
Read Ingrid Newkirk's full article on Huffington Post here.
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump's hideous African hunting trip is under investigation by Zimbabwean authorities. Among the potential problems noted by the Zimbabwean Conservation Task Force were the following: The brothers may have illegally used dogs to kill an endangered leopard, the South African safari firm they used was not registered to hunt in Zimbabwe and may not have been cleared by wildlife authorities, and licensing and trophy fees may not have been paid.
Authorities are also investigating the Trumps' claims that they donated meat from the animals they killed to local villagers, as there are no villages near where the brothers hunted. If they are found to be in breach of hunting laws, the Trump brothers and officials from the safari firm could face imprisonment or a fine of up to $500,000.
Johnny Rodrigues, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, said, "This is the problem with those who … think they can come to manipulate and control people, destroy natural resources, and say 'we came to help.' We don't want them here."
Hear, hear!
Read Ingrid Newkirk's full article on Huffington Post here.
The Spanish king Don Juan Carlos
kills innocent elephants for fun
While his country is limping along in a sorry financial state, whilst unemployment in Spain is at unbelievable levels, whilst his "subjects" are coming to terms with tough austerity measures, the king of Spain is hunting down and killing innocent elephants spending between 7 and 20 000 euros for each animal killed.
What a wonderful example he sets......NOT!
What a wonderful example he sets......NOT!
He was operated on for four hours to replace his hip at a hospital in Madrid on Saturday morning, after suffering a triple fracture which the Royal Palace said was "linked to arthritis".
The accident happened in Botswana during what the palace described as a private hunting trip.
Many Spaniards reacted with anger, with criticism of his expensive hobby at a time when his nation is mired in economic crisis with high unemployment and real suffering, especially for the young.
Adding to the embarrassment for the royal family, a few days ago on Monday his eldest grandson, Felipe Juan Froilán Marichalar y Borbón, 13, shot himself in the right foot with a shotgun during target practice at a family estate north of Madrid.
His father was questioned by police for allowing his son to use a firearm without a license, which can only be issued in Spain to those over 14 years old.
Source
The accident happened in Botswana during what the palace described as a private hunting trip.
Many Spaniards reacted with anger, with criticism of his expensive hobby at a time when his nation is mired in economic crisis with high unemployment and real suffering, especially for the young.
Adding to the embarrassment for the royal family, a few days ago on Monday his eldest grandson, Felipe Juan Froilán Marichalar y Borbón, 13, shot himself in the right foot with a shotgun during target practice at a family estate north of Madrid.
His father was questioned by police for allowing his son to use a firearm without a license, which can only be issued in Spain to those over 14 years old.
Source
Spanish King apologizes for elephant hunting trip
MADRID April 18, 2012 (AP)
Spain's king issued a rare apology Wednesday, saying it was clearly "a mistake" to have gone on an African elephant-hunting trip during his country's severe economic crisis.
In an unprecedented gesture, King Juan Carlos said he was "very sorry. I made a mistake. It won't happen again."
The 74-year-old monarch had come under scathing criticism this week after he went on an expensive safari to Botswana as both Spain and its citizens struggled amid an economic crisis that has worsened by the day. The trip — which even the government had not known about — came to light when the king fell Friday and ended up having to have hip replacement surgery.
The monarch made the apology before leaving a hospital in Madrid.
Looking a bit sheepish and using two crutches to walk, the king said he felt much better and was "looking forward to resuming my duties."
He thanked the San Jose Clinic staff for their help.
The elephant-hunting debacle came as interest rates for Spanish bonds have shot up in recent days, stoking fears it could be the next country in Europe to need a bailout. Spain is also struggling with 23 percent unemployment, the highest in the 17-nation eurozone. For many, the trip made the king's recent comments about how he couldn't sleep at night thinking about the country's unemployed ring hollow.
The royal family has been in the news a lot lately — and not for the best reasons.
The king's son-in-law Inaki Urdangarin is a suspect in a corruption case, accused of using his position to embezzle several million euros in public contracts through a not-for-profit foundation. Then, over Easter, the king's 13-year-old grandson shot himself in the foot with a shotgun, even though by law in Spain you must be 14 to handle a gun.
Until now, Juan Carlos had always been a highly respected figure in Spain and almost never came in for criticism from either politicians or the media.
Source
King Juan Carlos has been involved in hunting scandals before. Six years ago, officials dismissed as ridiculous allegations that he had shot a drunken Russian bear that had been plied with honey and vodka. The royal family has a troubled history with guns. The king shot and killed his brother in an accident when he was a teenager.
There are also things that just don't go well together: like being honorary president of the WWF and shooting endangered species, like the elephant!
Please sign the petition calling on the WWF to give him the boot for that at the link:
http://actuable.es/peticiones/que-rey-juan-carlos-i-deje-ser-presidente-honor-de
There are things that just don't go well together...
King Juan Carlos has been involved in hunting scandals before. Six years ago, officials dismissed as ridiculous allegations that he had shot a drunken Russian bear that had been plied with honey and vodka.
The royal family has a troubled history with guns. The king shot and killed his brother in an accident when he was a teenager.
There are also things that just don't go well together: like being honorary president of the WWF and shooting elephants!
Spain king ousted as
WWF branch honorary president
The World Wildlife Fund's branch in Spain has ousted King Juan Carlos as its honorary president - a title he'd held since 1968 - after deciding his recent elephant hunting safari was incompatible with its goal of conserving endangered species.
The announcement yesterday was the latest in a string of bad news for Spain's royal family, which has been embarrassed by legal and other scandals.
The fund said in a statement that "although such hunting is legal and regulated" it had "received many expressions of distress from its members and society in general." It said members voted at a meeting yesterday in Madrid to "to get rid of the honorary President" by a substantial majority of 226 votes to 13.
The Royal Palace declined immediate comment on the announcement.
Many Spaniards were dumbfounded when news broke in April that the king had made a secret journey to hunt elephants in Botswana even though it was widely known he was president of the Spanish branch of the fund.
Such an opulent indulgence also angered Spaniards at a time when national unemployment hovers around 25 percent, the economy is contracting and there are fears the country may need an international financial bailout.
The Spanish public learned of the safari only after the king had to fly back in a private jet to receive emergency medical attention for a broken hip suffered during the trip.
In an unprecedented act of royal contrition, a sheepish Juan Carlos apologised, saying as he left the hospital: "I am very sorry. I made a mistake. It won't happen again."
It was a poignant moment because the royal family had been under intense media scrutiny for all the wrong reasons.
The king's son-in-law, Inaki Urdangarin, is a suspect in a corruption case, accused of having used his position to embezzle several million euros in public contracts through a supposedly not-for-profit foundation he'd set up.
Over Easter, the king's 13-year-old grandson, Felipe Juan Froilan, shot himself in the foot with a shotgun, even though Spanish law dictates you must be 14 to handle a gun.
The king on Tuesday decided to take a pay cut in solidarity with civil servants who are to lose their traditional Christmas bonuses as part of the government's most recent austerity drive.
The salaries of Juan Carlos and Crown Prince Felipe will be reduced about 7 percent - to about 272,000 euros ($NZ414,000) and 131,000 euros ($NZ199,000) respectively - in line with government policy, the Royal Palace said.
The king and prince acted voluntarily in cutting their salaries, the palace said.
Source
The announcement yesterday was the latest in a string of bad news for Spain's royal family, which has been embarrassed by legal and other scandals.
The fund said in a statement that "although such hunting is legal and regulated" it had "received many expressions of distress from its members and society in general." It said members voted at a meeting yesterday in Madrid to "to get rid of the honorary President" by a substantial majority of 226 votes to 13.
The Royal Palace declined immediate comment on the announcement.
Many Spaniards were dumbfounded when news broke in April that the king had made a secret journey to hunt elephants in Botswana even though it was widely known he was president of the Spanish branch of the fund.
Such an opulent indulgence also angered Spaniards at a time when national unemployment hovers around 25 percent, the economy is contracting and there are fears the country may need an international financial bailout.
The Spanish public learned of the safari only after the king had to fly back in a private jet to receive emergency medical attention for a broken hip suffered during the trip.
In an unprecedented act of royal contrition, a sheepish Juan Carlos apologised, saying as he left the hospital: "I am very sorry. I made a mistake. It won't happen again."
It was a poignant moment because the royal family had been under intense media scrutiny for all the wrong reasons.
The king's son-in-law, Inaki Urdangarin, is a suspect in a corruption case, accused of having used his position to embezzle several million euros in public contracts through a supposedly not-for-profit foundation he'd set up.
Over Easter, the king's 13-year-old grandson, Felipe Juan Froilan, shot himself in the foot with a shotgun, even though Spanish law dictates you must be 14 to handle a gun.
The king on Tuesday decided to take a pay cut in solidarity with civil servants who are to lose their traditional Christmas bonuses as part of the government's most recent austerity drive.
The salaries of Juan Carlos and Crown Prince Felipe will be reduced about 7 percent - to about 272,000 euros ($NZ414,000) and 131,000 euros ($NZ199,000) respectively - in line with government policy, the Royal Palace said.
The king and prince acted voluntarily in cutting their salaries, the palace said.
Source
Another wildlife official
killing animals for fun in his spare time
New Hampshire Fish and Game Commissioner Rob Blake poses for a photo next to the lifeless corpse of one of the two elephants he paid to kill for fun on a trophy hunt in Africa (Zimbabwe).
He also held a talk on the killing in December of 2010 and advertised it all over the official New Hampshire government fish and wildlife website http://www.wildnh.com/Newsroom/News_2010/News_2010_Q4/big_game_talk_111510.html
Should wildlife officials that take part in sport hunting really be able to keep their jobs of looking after animals? This comes weeks after a photo of top Californian wildlife official Dan Richards surfaced showing him holding a mountain lion he had killed for fun.
Trophy hunters will always paint this picture of huge problems with elephants destroying crops and attacking villagers but if the problem was as big as they claim then shooting only one from a herd does NOTHING to help, it makes things a million times worse.
If you shoot one elephant it makes the rest of the herd angry and aggressive, they then hate humans and they will then go off to other villages and become aggressive towards the people and still destroy their crops, so the story trophy hunters tell you that they are helping people they are actually doing the opposite, but these trophy hunting companies want to keep it this way with elephants attacking people and crops so they can continue to shoot them and make money.
There are many simple methods of villagers protecting their crops from elephants that are used in Asia that does not involve any killing.
Trophy hunters claim that their money goes into conservation so where does it go for killing elephants if they are over populated? It should go towards contraception methods that would stop over population of elephants but you wouldn’t expect trophy hunters to do something like this because then the killing would have to stop.
Trophy hunting is what it is, it is people killing animals to feed their blood lust and to get a rush.
Source
He also held a talk on the killing in December of 2010 and advertised it all over the official New Hampshire government fish and wildlife website http://www.wildnh.com/Newsroom/News_2010/News_2010_Q4/big_game_talk_111510.html
Should wildlife officials that take part in sport hunting really be able to keep their jobs of looking after animals? This comes weeks after a photo of top Californian wildlife official Dan Richards surfaced showing him holding a mountain lion he had killed for fun.
Trophy hunters will always paint this picture of huge problems with elephants destroying crops and attacking villagers but if the problem was as big as they claim then shooting only one from a herd does NOTHING to help, it makes things a million times worse.
If you shoot one elephant it makes the rest of the herd angry and aggressive, they then hate humans and they will then go off to other villages and become aggressive towards the people and still destroy their crops, so the story trophy hunters tell you that they are helping people they are actually doing the opposite, but these trophy hunting companies want to keep it this way with elephants attacking people and crops so they can continue to shoot them and make money.
There are many simple methods of villagers protecting their crops from elephants that are used in Asia that does not involve any killing.
Trophy hunters claim that their money goes into conservation so where does it go for killing elephants if they are over populated? It should go towards contraception methods that would stop over population of elephants but you wouldn’t expect trophy hunters to do something like this because then the killing would have to stop.
Trophy hunting is what it is, it is people killing animals to feed their blood lust and to get a rush.
Source
Rich Chinese thrill seekers paying £50,000 for ‘trip of a lifetime…’
to kill endangered polar bears
China’s thrill-seeking nouveau riche are being offered a £50,000 trip of a lifetime – hunting down endangered polar bears, the Daily Mail can reveal.
The expensive price tag for the 10-day expedition across the polar ice pack in Canada includes the services of a taxidermist, who at the end of the hunt turns the trophy specimens into prized rugs for the “rookie” hunters’ living rooms.
‘The polar bear is the most extreme of natural enemies in North America,’ declares the Beijing-based I Love Hunting Club in its brochure.
‘Their weight can reach one ton, and they can grow to more than three meters in length. The huge male bear specimens are the most majestic, most beautiful of hunting prizes![sic]‘ reads the advert in Chinese.
After flying first class and acclimatising at their five star hotel, the hunters – super rich Chinese business men and women - set out on dog sleds across the protected polar bear habitats in search of their controversial quarry.
With the help of expert trackers from local Inuit communities, they stalk their prey and dispatch the iconic animals with bullets from a high-powered rifle, for which they are given fast-track training.
As an extra souvenir, the hunters are also given a personalized photo album and DVD film of their “exotic shoot”.
Included in the cost are luxury facilities, hunting licenses issued by the Canadian Government, visas, an interpreter, “rifles and bullets” and the “highest standard of outdoor sports insurance”.
‘Each hunter is allowed to kill one male only. We then turn them into rugs.
‘Many Chinese buy expensive polar rugs smuggled into China. But these cost up to £40,000 pound each, so going to hunt for your own is attractive to my clients,’ said the hunting club’s owner, Scott Lupien, a professional hunter from California.
Mr Lupien says his club caters to two kinds of clients – experienced enthusiasts and novice tycoons seeking their first kill.
‘I also teach the Chinese about conservation. That is an important part of the trip. Hunting by quota helps endangered species,’ said Mr Lupien, who also offers hunting trips to South Africa, the US and South America.
‘If a male runs into a female with cubs, it attacks the cubs. Hunting males actually helps the young population survive,’ claimed fluent Chinese-speaker Mr Lupien, 43, who has been running his club in China for four years.
‘The animal rights guys know this but they don’t want to admit it. And if you believe the ice caps are melting as some claim, these bears are going to die anyway, so you may as well hunt them,’ he told the Daily Mail.
Mr Lupien’s website, 52safari.com, shows numerous videos of Chinese hunters shooting lions, zebra, gazelles, moose, black bears and mountain lions, among other species.
Scores of photos show the hunters posing with their kill.
The “only professional hunting club” in China was last night condemned by international animal rights groups and the public.
The UK Director of International Fund for Animal Welfare, Robbie Marsland, said putting a price tag on wildlife was the quickest way to drive species to extinction.
‘The IFAW opposes the cruel and unnecessary killing of these animals which are already under increased threat from habitat loss. We urge members of the [Chinese] public to avoid taking part in the needless slaughter of polar bears for trophies and instead encourage their protection for future generations,’ said Marsland.
Some Chinese media have tapped into the fledgling animal rights movement among China’s pet-owning urban middle classes and yesterday slammed Mr Lupien’s hunting club.
But trophy hunting appeals to the hundreds of Chinese tycoons keen to pit themselves armed against wild animals armed with a gun.
Canada is the only country to allow international, non-native trophy hunters to kill on its soil and approximately 500 polar bears are killed each year.
Scientists claimed in 2008 between 20-25,000 remain in the wild.
But that number could be cut by two thirds by mid century if the Arctic continues to warm due to climate change, as many experts predict.
In 2008, the US government declared polar bears an endangered species and banned all American hunters from returning from Canada with their trophies.
Norway is the only country that has banned all hunting for the species, with Russia, Alaska and Greenland allowing native communities to hunt the bears as a food source.
The expensive price tag for the 10-day expedition across the polar ice pack in Canada includes the services of a taxidermist, who at the end of the hunt turns the trophy specimens into prized rugs for the “rookie” hunters’ living rooms.
‘The polar bear is the most extreme of natural enemies in North America,’ declares the Beijing-based I Love Hunting Club in its brochure.
‘Their weight can reach one ton, and they can grow to more than three meters in length. The huge male bear specimens are the most majestic, most beautiful of hunting prizes![sic]‘ reads the advert in Chinese.
After flying first class and acclimatising at their five star hotel, the hunters – super rich Chinese business men and women - set out on dog sleds across the protected polar bear habitats in search of their controversial quarry.
With the help of expert trackers from local Inuit communities, they stalk their prey and dispatch the iconic animals with bullets from a high-powered rifle, for which they are given fast-track training.
As an extra souvenir, the hunters are also given a personalized photo album and DVD film of their “exotic shoot”.
Included in the cost are luxury facilities, hunting licenses issued by the Canadian Government, visas, an interpreter, “rifles and bullets” and the “highest standard of outdoor sports insurance”.
‘Each hunter is allowed to kill one male only. We then turn them into rugs.
‘Many Chinese buy expensive polar rugs smuggled into China. But these cost up to £40,000 pound each, so going to hunt for your own is attractive to my clients,’ said the hunting club’s owner, Scott Lupien, a professional hunter from California.
Mr Lupien says his club caters to two kinds of clients – experienced enthusiasts and novice tycoons seeking their first kill.
‘I also teach the Chinese about conservation. That is an important part of the trip. Hunting by quota helps endangered species,’ said Mr Lupien, who also offers hunting trips to South Africa, the US and South America.
‘If a male runs into a female with cubs, it attacks the cubs. Hunting males actually helps the young population survive,’ claimed fluent Chinese-speaker Mr Lupien, 43, who has been running his club in China for four years.
‘The animal rights guys know this but they don’t want to admit it. And if you believe the ice caps are melting as some claim, these bears are going to die anyway, so you may as well hunt them,’ he told the Daily Mail.
Mr Lupien’s website, 52safari.com, shows numerous videos of Chinese hunters shooting lions, zebra, gazelles, moose, black bears and mountain lions, among other species.
Scores of photos show the hunters posing with their kill.
The “only professional hunting club” in China was last night condemned by international animal rights groups and the public.
The UK Director of International Fund for Animal Welfare, Robbie Marsland, said putting a price tag on wildlife was the quickest way to drive species to extinction.
‘The IFAW opposes the cruel and unnecessary killing of these animals which are already under increased threat from habitat loss. We urge members of the [Chinese] public to avoid taking part in the needless slaughter of polar bears for trophies and instead encourage their protection for future generations,’ said Marsland.
Some Chinese media have tapped into the fledgling animal rights movement among China’s pet-owning urban middle classes and yesterday slammed Mr Lupien’s hunting club.
But trophy hunting appeals to the hundreds of Chinese tycoons keen to pit themselves armed against wild animals armed with a gun.
Canada is the only country to allow international, non-native trophy hunters to kill on its soil and approximately 500 polar bears are killed each year.
Scientists claimed in 2008 between 20-25,000 remain in the wild.
But that number could be cut by two thirds by mid century if the Arctic continues to warm due to climate change, as many experts predict.
In 2008, the US government declared polar bears an endangered species and banned all American hunters from returning from Canada with their trophies.
Norway is the only country that has banned all hunting for the species, with Russia, Alaska and Greenland allowing native communities to hunt the bears as a food source.
Cruel: With the help of expert trackers from local Inuit communities, hunters stalk their prey and dispatch the iconic animals with bullets from a high-powered rifle
Included in the cost are luxury facilities, hunting licenses issued by the Canadian Government, visas, an interpreter, “rifles and bullets” and the “highest standard of outdoor sports insurance”.
'Each hunter is allowed to kill one male only. We then turn them into rugs.
'Many Chinese buy expensive polar rugs smuggled into China. But these cost up to £40,000 pound each, so going to hunt for your own is attractive to my clients,' said the hunting club’s owner, Scott Lupien, a professional hunter from California.
Mr Lupien says his club caters to two kinds of clients – experienced enthusiasts and novice tycoons seeking their first kill.
'I also teach the Chinese about conservation. That is an important part of the trip. Hunting by quota helps endangered species,' said Mr Lupien, who also offers hunting trips to South Africa, the US and South America
'Each hunter is allowed to kill one male only. We then turn them into rugs.
'Many Chinese buy expensive polar rugs smuggled into China. But these cost up to £40,000 pound each, so going to hunt for your own is attractive to my clients,' said the hunting club’s owner, Scott Lupien, a professional hunter from California.
Mr Lupien says his club caters to two kinds of clients – experienced enthusiasts and novice tycoons seeking their first kill.
'I also teach the Chinese about conservation. That is an important part of the trip. Hunting by quota helps endangered species,' said Mr Lupien, who also offers hunting trips to South Africa, the US and South America
Trophies: The owner of the American company said 'Each hunter is allowed to kill one male only. We then turn them into rugs'
'If you believe the ice caps are melting as some claim, these bears are going to die anyway, so you may as well hunt them'
The UK Director of International Fund for Animal Welfare, Robbie Marsland, said putting a price tag on wildlife was the quickest way to drive species to extinction.
'The IFAW opposes the cruel and unnecessary killing of these animals which are already under increased threat from habitat loss. We urge members of the [Chinese] public to avoid taking part in the needless slaughter of polar bears for trophies and instead encourage their protection for future generations,' said Marsland.
Some Chinese media have tapped into the fledgling animal rights movement among China’s pet-owning urban middle classes and yesterday slammed Mr Lupien’s hunting club.
But trophy hunting appeals to the hundreds of Chinese tycoons keen to pit themselves armed against wild animals armed with a gun.
Canada is the only country to allow international, non-native trophy hunters to kill on its soil and approximately 500 polar bears are killed each year.
Scientists claimed in 2008 between 20-25,000 remain in the wild.
But that number could be cut by two thirds by mid century if the Arctic continues to warm due to climate change, as many experts predict.
In 2008, the US government declared polar bears an endangered species and banned all American hunters from returning from Canada with their trophies.
Norway is the only country that has banned all hunting for the species, with Russia, Alaska and Greenland allowing native communities to hunt the bears as a food source.
Source: The Daily Mail
