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Elephant kills its hunter

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S

Skyzard

Banned
A professional game hunter has been trampled to death by an elephant while leading a hunt with an American client in Zimbabwe.

"Ian was tragically killed by an elephant bull earlier today while guiding an elephant hunt in Chewore North."

It adds: “Feeling he was quite close to the elephant, Ian and his tracker Robert continued to follow the tracks in hopes of getting a look at the ivory as the client stayed with the game scout.”

Gibson’s tracker indicated the elephant was in “musth” – a condition where the animal’s urge to mate goes into overdrive and it becomes overly aggressive, but Gibson continued.

The note continues: “They eventually caught up with the bull, spotting him at about 50-100 metres. The bull instantly turned and began a full charge.

“Ian and Robert began shouting in order to stop the charge. At very close range, Ian was able to get off one shot before the bull killed him. The scene was very graphic.”

It is not known if the animal was killed in the incident.
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8Ec8wSK.jpg


http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/201...d-death-elephant-tracking-kill_n_7085374.html
 
E

Espada

Member
Damn.

I remember reading that bull elephants are so violent in that state that hippos, crocodiles, and elephant herds steer clear of them.
 
E

Empty

Member
the "client" escapes unharmed. will finance a new hunter for his precious ivory. does not get named and identified.
 
S

Skyzard

Banned
Dreams-Visions said:
So were they planning on killing the animal, or did they just want to observe it and its ivory? Article wasn't terribly clear to me.
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Razmos said:
"tragically"

EDIT: Wait, why was the word edited out? Now my post looks stupid.
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I thought the sentence with his name wasn't as important but it mentions they were actually hunting elephants (if that's what an elephant hunt is) in that sentence so I re-added it. You're good.

They also call the elephant game...so...
 
W

WedgeX

Banned
C

CTLance

Member
Well, that's the price you pay for hunting an animal several times your size that's raging from having blue balls.

Should've brought a powered suit. Or a rocket launcher. Or listened to his scout/tracker.
 
R

Razmos

Member
CTLance said:
Well, that's the price you pay for hunting an animal several times your size that's raging from having blue balls.

Should've brought a powered suit. Or a rocket launcher. Or listened to his scout/tracker.
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Or shouldn't have been hunting them at all, maybe.
 
E

Enron

Banned
From what I've read, legal hunters want to take the largest elephants that have the ivory. Elephants never stop growing, so the largest elephants are the oldest ones and are likely to have the largest tusks. Ideally they take the ones that are 5 or so years from dying.
 
S

SilentRacoon

Member
Dreams-Visions said:
So were they planning on killing the animal, or did they just want to observe it and its ivory? Article wasn't terribly clear to me.
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Reading is hard:
"while guiding an elephant hunt"

Fuck him, wouldn't even blink an eye if the one that hired him got killed as well, they have no compassion for wildlife, hunting them down for a mere piece of ivory. You can bet your ass I won't share an ounce of empathy for these worthless scumbags getting killed.
 
C

CTLance

Member
Razmos said:
Or shouldn't have been hunting them at all, maybe.
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What, and not experience the thrill of the hunt? Are you crazy? That American client paid good money for this! That said, it's not mentioned explicitly in the article, only implied, and I'm in too good a mood right now to have it spoiled by some rich idiot killing animals for fun.

I've been in an elephant cage once. Got headbutted and shoved around like a toy by a playful baby elephant (which are still the size of a small car and just as unstoppable once they pick up speed). Also nearly got a full body cavity search by his mother (checking for snacks, toys and out of general curiosity, as their caretaker claimed). These animals are awesome. I could never try to kill them just for kicks.

Hunting out of necessity is one thing, but killing for entertainment really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
 
L

Leunam

Member
Kind of a interesting situation. No surprise that people here show no sympathy for the hunter since on its surface hunting elephants seems like such a shitty thing to do. I can't blame them. But I read another article that goes into a little more detail:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...professional-big-game-hunter-in-Zimbabwe.html

Mr Gibson's trackers said the young bull had been in a musth period, which means it was producing much more testosterone then usual.

"We know 'Gibbo' shot it once, from about 10 yards away, with a 458 [rifle]. He would never have fired unless he had no alternative. He was a hunter, yes, but he was also a magnificent wildlife photographer and conservationist.

"He was so experienced and this is a most unexpected tragedy."

Mr Gibson was accompanying his client in an area known as Chiwore North in the southern part of the Zambezi Valley, which Mr Smith said is overpopulated with elephants.

Mr Smith said the young bull elephant appeared not to be a natural target for any hunter as its tusks were too small.

"In most years someone is usually killed on a hunt somewhere in Africa, and that is why it is called 'dangerous game hunting' but we are very shocked that it was 'Gibbo'," said Mr Smith.

Mr Gibson began his wildlife career in Zimbabwe's department of national parks, but left to become a hunter about 25 years ago.
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Supposedly they were tracking a lion first, but decided to get a look at this elephant instead. Not sure if they're telling the truth. Shooting from ten yards at a charging Bull elephant with elevated levels of testosterone sounds terrifying.

The article also linked to this story about elephant population:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...or-funds-lost-from-ban-on-trophy-hunters.html

Zimbabwe hopes to sell about 50 tamed, juvenile elephants to foreign zoos to fund its national park, to compensate for the end of income from American hunters after the US banned the import of wildlife trophies.

Most American hunters, banned since last year from taking Zimbabwe trophies home with them, are now shooting elephants in South Africa. Safari operators and Zimbabwe's professional hunters say the ban has crippled their industry.

Saviour Kasukawere, Zimbabwe’s environment minister, said he hopes to export about 50 young elephants which will be tamed before they will are exported.

And he admitted that the sale of the elephants would be controversial. In December Pierce Brosnan, a long-standing campaigner for animal rights, criticised the "gruesome" announcement that 36 baby elephants had been taken from their mothers and were awaiting shipment "to the UAE and possibly China".

That deal was never confirmed, and Mr Kasukawere was unrepentant.

"We need to fund (national) parks because of sanctions and sport hunting bans," he said. "We are between a rock and a hard place."

Colin Gilles, a long time elephant counter and executive in the Wildlife and Environment Society, said that the sale of the elephants was "the best of two evils".

"Exporting sub adult elephants is better then culling them, as long as they are looked after," he said.

"A number of baby elephants died in China the last time we exported there. I suppose export is the best of two evils.

"I don’t like it, but I know national parks desperately needs funds, and if these funds are received by parks, then we have to live with this."
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Zimbabwe has too many elephants in the north west, according to most elephant counters, and Zimbabwe’s national parks authority. They say relocation of animals to the north and east of Zimbabwe, where populations have been halved by poachers, was not necessary.

"Elephant populations here grow at about five per cent per annum. So relocation doesn’t make sense," said David Cummings, one of Zimbabwe's most experienced wildlife ecologists.

He said there will be a swift recovery of the elephant population in parts of Zimbabwe where numbers have dropped in recent years.

"There were about 4,000 elephants in Zimbabwe 100 years ago. Now we have about 100,000."

Trevor Lane, a long time elephant and wildlife expert in Victoria Falls, agreed.

"Relocation is not necessary. There has been a drought this year and so many will die which will bring the numbers down," he said. He added he hoped revenue from selling elephants would be used to fight poachers from Zambia.

There are unconfirmed reports that a dozen elephants were killed last weekend in the wildlife area, known as Matusadona, in northern Zimbabwe, near the Zambian border.

The Zimbabwe National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has asked for permission from National Parks to observe the capture and export of elephants
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Sounds like controlling elephant populations is a monumental task and Zimbabwe in particular is having a hard time with it since one of their main sources of income for those operations (hunting) has diminished. Seems like donations aren't enough.

The whole ordeal comes off as nothing but difficult lesser-of-two-evil choices at every turn. Flourishing elephant populations in the wrong place means a spike in poacher operations as well. Lack of money means short staffed parks which also means less protection. I sure wouldn't want to be the one to make those decisions.

There's always a bit more to stories of "trophy hunting" but in my experiences here people are less likely to look at that perspective. I wish people were more willing to give it a real critical analysis the way they would other scientific research.
 
E

Enron

Banned
FairXchange said:
He was out the for its ivory, he's a 'legitimate' poacher in my eyes. The title 'Hunter' says nothing when they were intent in murdering an elephant for its tusks.
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The older males that are legal to hunt are going to have the larger ivory (elephants never stop growing). That's one of the ways they distinguish between which ones to take and which to leave.
 
P

prwxv3

Member
Can this article stop the "it's easy to hunt bing game with guns" bullshit or what. And why is everyone not seeing the legal part in the article.
 
E

Enron

Banned
prwxv3 said:
Can this article stop the "it's easy to hunt bing game with guns" bullshit or what. And why is everyone not seeing the legal part in the article.
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Because there's few things that gaf hates more than hunters. They don't care.
 
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