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You clearly haven’t the first clue what happens when a licensed hunter kills an elephant legally.

First of all, the fees for the hunt provide employment for a number of people and funding for anti-poaching efforts - in this case, in Tanzania, which has probably the best and most aggressive anti-poaching unit in Africa. Secondly, legally-taken elephants provide a significant amount of food for the local population and provide raw materials for native crafts, which are sold to tourists to support a very meager income. Local villages are notified of a hunt in the area and stand by to butcher the elephant, which happens in very short order, so very little is wasted. Poaching, on the other hand - almost always intended to harvest only ivory, provides income only for criminals and the carcasses usually lie and rot.

I would invite you to do some research on the health of the elephant herd in Kenya, which banned elephant hunting over 40 years ago. When banned in 1973, the elephant population in Kenya was about 275,000. After 44 years of no elephant hunting, the population is now estimated to be in the neighborhood of 30,000 and continues to decline because the Kenyan government lacks the funds to hire wardens.

Yes, I am a hunter and I’ve been to Africa, but never hunted there. While I have no desire whatsoever to kill an elephant, I don’t object to someone willing to pay 40-50 thousand dollars or more who does. I do, however, have a real problem with idiots who wish death upon people pursuing a perfectly legal undertaking just because they disagree with it, don’t understand it and choose not to participate themselves. Sounds very much like the liberal argument against the Second Amendment, now doesn’t it?

I thought this was FREE Republic...

I really can’t believe the clueless responses on freerepublic. you’d figure this was some tree-hugger site. Talking about karma that this man was killed. We should just get our meat humanely, like at a supermarket. This guy has likely over the years made it possible for thousands of animals to flourish in his area because of money injected into that local economy. Likewise fed locals and paid them more than any other job. Visit any other African country that doesn’t encourage big game hunting/conservation and you will see the results. Likewise look at the U.S. Hunters here thru nwtf and ducks unlimited pumps millions into conservation and those populations are through the roof. Or you could just act like a silly liberal and cry when the pretty animal is killed.

Abortion is actually a GOOD thing. The abortionist and nurses and other employees at the death camps need jobs. Spend their paychecks in the community.

A few dead babies, that no one wanted anyway, help those employees raise their “wanted” children. Not to mention the trickle down to other families with children that benefit from death camp workers spending their paychecks at the grocery store and Gimme Coffee. SARC

I have had an affinity for the big creatures since childhood. Admire them immensely. Regret the declining numbers. Confine them to national parks and they are hunted/poached to extinction. Let them exist in game farms and they are hunted but the stock is maintained by landowners to ensure his (owners) continued revenue.

No different than ranchers in this country. Last I looked the cattle stocks are pretty constant.

So for long term survival let them be hunted on private lands where a profit is possible or see them extinct. And ensure trained guides that only permit the most humane of kills with the threat of large fines/imprisonment for improper conduct.

I have toured African game farms and sense they do a decent job of herd management—but I am no expert in the matter.