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Elephant kills its hunter

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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



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





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.

Aren't these separate cases, though? Cause the articles mention this hunter going for the ivory, while the overpopulation stuff seems to bear out that they don't need hunters when bad weather conditions like drought do the work naturally on culling anyway.

Considering ivory is used to fund terrorism like Boko Haram, can see why many (and I) would have no sympathy for this hunter.
 

cm osi

Member
When was the last time an Elephant donated to charity? Do go on

poachers donate to charity? the whole "human life is worth more" is just sophism, you give life a value based on each single case, since we don't act on instinct.
sorry if i don't feel sorry about an hunter dead because he has to sell ivory, tiger bones, rhino horns or whatever for shitty fakes pharmaceutical drugs
 

Fury451

Banned
Considering ivory is used to fund terrorism like Boko Haram, can see why many (and I) would have no sympathy for this hunter.

This may be possible, though it doesn't seem like the case from what's presented.

The majority of posts here are not going in depth enough to make the connection to Boko Haram or anything else. The thought basically stops at "haha, stupid hunters deserve to get trampled to death lol go nature!".
 
poachers donate to charity? the whole "human life is worth more" is just sophism, you give life a value based on each single case, since we don't act on instinct.
sorry if i don't feel sorry about an hunter dead because he has to sell ivory, tiger bones, rhino horns or whatever for shitty fakes pharmaceutical drugs

The person who died wasn't a poacher, though.
 
Are you serious? This is not even remotely close to what happened here.
Of course there will be circumstances where a human being's life will be more important. this "hypothetical scenario" was beyond the injured man and dog's control.

Just imagine you're walking on the street and then suddendly you see a teenager kicking a dog to death for no apparent reason. As you get closer to stop him, you see the dog bites the guy's leg making him bleed. Nothing important but the guy is on the ground almost crying. At that point the dog has several broken bones and can no longer defend itself... who's life would you save?

At that point I would be like.. fuck you, kid.
Some of the comments here were in regards to human life vs animal life in general, not poachers vs elephants.
 

Roo

Member
That's not even a remotely close scenario either. Let's go deeper.

Let's say a man paid a family who's extremely poor, this man pays that family enough money so they can eat for the next few months and the only thing he gets in return is he gets to hunt their old, old dog.

Eh, we're not going anywhere with this. Those analogies can work for both sides. It's subjetive. How can I know if that man helped this family for the sake of being a good samaritan or just for the twisted desire of killing their old, old dog.
If it was the former one would think he would pay this family AND keep their dog alive.
 

Principate

Saint Titanfall
poachers donate to charity? the whole "human life is worth more" is just sophism, you give life a value based on each single case, since we don't act on instinct.
sorry if i don't feel sorry about an hunter dead because he has to sell ivory, tiger bones, rhino horns or whatever for shitty fakes pharmaceutical drugs

TBF I do wonder if all these people that, consider human animals and human lifes equal are vegetarians or not, because if their not the difference between the animals you eat and the animals that you don't is based on how delicious they are. That's not to say there's anything wrong with the concept but I have no issue choosing humans lives over animals saying humans lives are more important because I consume animals for sustenance (and you don't need to consume animals in most cases though it is beneficial). Otherwise it all seems hypocritical.
 

Leunam

Member
Aren't these separate cases, though? Cause the articles mention this hunter going for the ivory, while the overpopulation stuff seems to bear out that they don't need hunters when bad weather conditions like drought do the work naturally on culling anyway.

I don't think they were going for the ivory. These guys weren't poachers. I think they were just trying to determine how old the elephant was.
 
The hunter... becomes... the hunted!

104892335-david-caruso-sunglasses.jpg
 
This may be possible, though it doesn't seem like the case from what's presented.

The majority of posts here are not going in depth enough to make the connection to Boko Haram or anything else. The thought basically stops at "haha, stupid hunters deserve to get trampled to death lol go nature!".
From what I gather, because the gov't doesn't pay the hunters much, the hunters need money to fight off the poachers and so they kill elephants to sell the ivory to get the money...? What about military protecting against poachers? Anti-poaching teams, anti-poaching rangers like VETPAW (Veterans Empowered to Protect African Wildlife)? I'm not knowledgeable about if this is the only method of stopping poachers.
I don't think they were going for the ivory. These guys weren't poachers. I think they were just trying to determine how old the elephant was.
Ah, that makes a bit more sense.
 

Ominym

Banned
I wasn't saying it's our duty I was saying that arguably it's slightly more compassionate than letting them starve.

Although now you bring it up maybe it is our duty. After all humanity pollute and builds cities, towns and roads on potential hunting grounds for animals. We poach them. We intervene too much to just say "oh nature will take care of it". Maybe it is our duty?

There's actually a really good debate about this when it comes to vaccinating wild ape populations. In that, some are concerned that the ape populations ravaged by disease can't use their usual strategy of moving away from diseased areas due to human expansion, and thus we should vaccinate them. Others would counter and say that it's not our right or duty to play god.
 
D

Deleted member 8095

Unconfirmed Member
I don't think they were going for the ivory. These guys weren't poachers. I think they were just trying to determine how old the elephant was.

Shhhh, let the brainless anti-hunters have their circle jerk over the loss of a life. Ironically, that hunter has done far more for conservation than anyone in this thread gloating about his death.
 

Sheytan

Member
Thanks for the info, MJPIA. It's a real shame they are on their own.





Depends whose dog and if they are foreign or close to you :p

I have no sympathy for people who hunt for sport, but i would never rescue an animal before a human being, and i also find it weird that some people threats pets like kids
 

akira28

Member
Fuck Ian.

and fuck his client. "get closer so they could get a look at his ivory"? That's kind of transparent there. Some privateers with sanctioned poaching still sounds like bullshit. I say good job, Babar.
 

Rootbeer

Banned
If you are out hunting animals and they kill you first... sorry, fair game.

That's why I leave my killing to my local butcher shop.
 

Leunam

Member

What does this prove? They were hunting, but they already said that the ivory was too small for poachers anyway. Besides, they can't bring the ivory home anyway as a trophy, that's already been outlawed and it's having a huge effect on money that comes into Zimbabwe.

So no, I don't think they were hunting for ivory. And I think they are told which elephants are free game, which comes with guidelines about what you can hunt. Just like in the US where you aren't just allowed to shoot any deer in sight. There are rules in place for this.
 
Are people really arguing if human life is worth the same as an animals? I feel as if some people just watched Parasyte: The Maxim and thought it was the most thought provoking anime ever.
 
the circle of life. Though if someone kills that elephant then I can't be mad.

Are people really arguing if human life is worth the same as an animals? I feel as if some people just watched Parasyte: The Maxim and thought it was the most thought provoking anime ever.

It happens in every thread about hunters. I can't process the reasoning though.
 

Sheroking

Member
You know, I'm not even sure if I care if it's a poacher.

If you're trying to shoot an animal to death and it kills you instead, GG. You played a rigged game and lost. No sympathy for you.
 

rambis

Banned
Are people really arguing if human life is worth the same as an animals? I feel as if some people just watched Parasyte: The Maxim and thought it was the most thought provoking anime ever.
Worth the same in which sense?

Maybe to a human, a human life is worth more. But in the overall scope of the earth, then who is worth more?
 
Spoiler Alert: Humans are animals too.

Is this supposed to be a salient point? I don't think you understand the importance of intelligence.

Worth more in which sense?

Maybe to a human, a human life is worth more. But in the overall scope of the earth, then who is worth more?

Humans. It's not really an argument. You can make it circular (which it is) but then you're still ignoring the intelligence factor. You may as well say, if we're going by this logic, that gravity is worth even more or the sun is or convection currents are. Supply while valuable isn't more valuable than humans because we are discussing human society.
 
D

Deleted member 8095

Unconfirmed Member
Yes! Super happy. Every person that hunts or hurts innocent animals needs to die a painful death.

"Tragically" my ass.

So you're a vegan and own nothing that has any type of animal byproduct in it? Also, being super happy about someone's death and wishing a painful death on others is pretty fucked up behavior. Something I would expect a 13 year old to post.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Elephants are the most incredible animals ever. Can't say I feel terribly sorry for Newt Gingrich's lookalike.
 
This story reads like self-defense, so its hard to muster anything but understanding for the elephant attempting to stop its own execution.

But then again I do look at these animals as living creatures with their own right to life and not just as blind material resources to be harvested by man for convenience or entertainment. So, yeah, consider me biased on that front.
 

Seventy70

Member
Are people seriously trying to argue that a human's life isn't more important to them? It's why you have people that don't hesitate to eat something that was bred to die for their stomachs. Species care more about their own species because they can relate to them best. It's just the way we are programmed.

It's sad that this person had to die and if I had an option between the person or the elephant, I would have chosen the person.
 
I watched a nature doc or something where a hippo killed its own kid so it wouldn't be a threat. Just like ate the kid man. Animals aren't that great.
 
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