Credit: Facebook
As regulars on this blog know, I am no fan of such trophy hunts. British hunters came to South Africa with more of a massacre in mind. South Africans helped the hunters mow down 500 baboons and monkeys over a 30-year period. While the fun of shooting monkeys for pure blood lust ended two years ago, new photos show how hunters brought their children to wantonly kill the animals.
The charge was just $20 (£16.45) to get to shoot the animals. Another company, Africa Hunt Lodge, charged $100 (£81) to get to kill a vervet monkey. What is weird is that these hunters were proud of shooting these animals with high-powered rifles and posed with the dead animals, including baby monkeys and baboons.
We have previously followed the controversy over the shooting of “Cecil the Lion” by an American dentist Walter Palmer from Minnesota as well as subsequent controversies of an Idaho hunter taunting animal advocates and killing giant elephants or giraffes or rare goats or famed wolves for trophies. Recently, we also discussed how the highly corrupt Zambian government allowed trophy hunters to kill thousands of hippos, including rare and threatened species for windfall payments. Then there was the trophy hunter who killed a famous iconic elephant.
Credit: Facebook
Umlilo customer Micky Jordan, a Londoner, has faced a backlash after images showing him pose with dead monkeys. He responded by declaring “Didn’t realize everyone was vegetarian.”
If these pictures disgusted, be aware that Americans shot even more monkeys. From 2007 to 2016, the US has imported almost 890 primate trophies every year, according to the Humane Society. Almost 9,000 such trophies have been imported to this country. There have been some 11,205 primate hunting trophies traded internationally.
I often hike in remote spots to see bears and other animals in their natural habitat. I cannot imagine the appeal of these thrill kills. These dead animals are tragic lifeless trophies of magnificent animals in the wild. Rather than watch or photographs these animals, these people relish possessing them by killing them and them posing with their dead bodies as if it is truly impressive to shoot an unsuspecting animal from a long distance with a scoped high-powered rifle.