Trophy hunter dies after wounded elephant crushes him in Zimbabwe

[driftdiver]

It is population management, though. "Sound practice" to keep the numbers limited to a range the area can theoretically support. More than that and the animal/human problems increase, and that means people will kill off the animals, whether they threaten villages or destroy crops. It is a (and I hate the word, as used lately) sustainable balance, one which preserves an ecosystem. Unfortunately that means the area must be patrolled for poachers and the animals tracked to understand their habits. That takes money, and the trade off is that the herd gets trimmed in sanctioned hunts which have very expensive permit fees which support the management of game and non-game species alike. The hunter gets the trophy, the village gets the meat.
Trophy hunters of means have a lawful and regulated opportunity to sate their wishes, which keeps them from going to the poachers.

We have something similar, here, in that when the herd gets large enough, one, and just one bighorn permit is auctioned off in this state, open to anyone, anywhere. that one ram permit (no guarantees) can bring in $50,000 which goes toward game management in the state.
The permits for major game in Africa can run from mid five figures and up, a fortune in Africa.
Like it or not, it is what works best, under the circumstances.

I'm no fan of trophy hunting, either, personally. When other guys were out hunting for a deer with big antlers, I was looking for a large, fat, spike buck who'd fill the larder. I'd hear them whine about 'the one that got away', and go home and eat venison.

@Smokin Joe

I'm going black bear hunting this fall.  I full intend to bring the meat home and a nice bear skin to hang on the wall.

[Smokin Joe]

@Smokin Joe

Joe, it might be a lot of things, but, like I said, my love for these animals goes way back to my early childhood.  I'm not going to suddenly now say, "Yay for killing leopard and elephants!"  Not going to happen.

Is it emotional?  Hell yes, it is.  We all have our emotional hot buttons, and this is one of mine.

Okay, that's honest and I can see that. Just explaining this is probably as good as it will get. I won't go into predator overpopulation/die-off cycles beyond mentioning them, and I will respect your feelings.
As I said, I'm not a trophy hunter either, and wouldn't be even if I could afford it.

[Smokin Joe]

@Smokin Joe

I'm going black bear hunting this fall.  I full intend to bring the meat home and a nice bear skin to hang on the wall.

Nothing gets wasted. That respects the critter, imho.

[Silver Pines]

Okay, that's honest and I can see that. Just explaining this is probably as good as it will get. I won't go into predator overpopulation/die-off cycles beyond mentioning them, and I will respect your feelings.
As I said, I'm not a trophy hunter either, and wouldn't be even if I could afford it.

@Smokin Joe

I appreciate you respecting my opinion.

[Smokin Joe]

@Smokin Joe

I appreciate you respecting my opinion.

You're welcome! We won't always completely agree about everything, anyway.

[thackney]

You're welcome! We won't always completely agree about everything, anyway.

Absolutely.  Not much point in the discussion of anything posted is followed only by "yeah, me too".

[EC]

Absolutely.  Not much point in the discussion of anything posted is followed only by "yeah, me too".

Drives me nuts, that. 

[Silver Pines]

You're welcome! We won't always completely agree about everything, anyway.

@Smokin Joe
@thackney

Course nor.  We don't even agree with our spouses all the time.  The issue is how we handle the disagreement.

[thackney]

Course nor.  We don't even agree with our spouses all the time.  The issue is how we handle the disagreement.

In hindsight, I don't always agree with myself...

But I try to not let that grow into an active argument.

[Silver Pines]

In hindsight, I don't always agree with myself...

But I try to not let that grow into an active argument.

@thackney

 

[Applewood]

In many places in Africa the only source of money to protect the animals comes from hunters.  Without it the parks would disappear and the poachers would have free reign.

Elephants ARE disappearing and it's because of poachers.  Poaching goes unchecked in that part of the world.