As many of you know, I am no fan of such trophy hunts. I often hike in remote spots to see bears and other animals in their natural habitat. 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 famed wolves or mountain goats or hundreds of hippos for trophies. We also discussed the shooting of an iconic elephant as well as disgusting videotape has emerged of a trophy hunter shooting a sleeping lion. The latest outrage is over new pictures of English hunters posing with dead zebras. Shooting a zebra is about as challenging with a long-range rifle as shooting a neighborhood dog.
Tour operator and taxidermist, Andy Denson, posted his picture above to memorialize the moment. Pete Livesey was able to display a bloody zebra. These moments were the work of Huntershill Safaris and Umlilo Safaris.. The hunter rave about the joy of shooting a bunch of defenseless animals grazing in some field.
South Africa allows these hunts despite overwhelming opposition from environmentalists and animal rights advocates. The United Kingdom is considering a ban on the importation of such trophies. The latest photos may have galvanized opposition as leaders denounced trophy hunting as “morally indefensible.”
There are less than 35,000 zebras left in the wild, which is less than one-tenth of the number of elephants.