[WorkingClassFilth]

Who cares why somebody would go throught the bother and huge financial costs of obtaining permits, guides and paying for a Safari to take an elephant. The good thing is that they do.

If it were not for the fees associated with sport hunting, the money to pay conservation officers and maintain preserves would not be there. If there is no teeth in laws to protect the game, bush meat demand will take its eventual toll.

OTOH, you could ban it altogether. That always works for every problem it is applied to in every other sphere.

BTW, most game in Africa, legal or not, is killed with European military calibers. Most of the bush meat hunting in the last century was with widely available .303's from the Brits. Much more of the ivory killing in the last quarter of the century was done by insurgents and rebel groups. Everything from RPG's to automatic fire from AK's were used to slaughter the beasts and strip the ivory for financing insurgency.

As in interesting aside, the widespread use of the .303 may be due to the exploits of Karamojo Bell and his famed rear-quartering shot with a .30 caliber rifle. A lot of dead colonials tried to duplicate his feats.

[WorkingClassFilth]

Sorry...

I meant to say that Karamojo Bell used a .275 and the widespread use of .30 cal. rifles among 'me-too' Europeans may have much to do with Bell and his use of lighter, high velocity ammo on heavy game like the elephants. The widespread availability of military ammo from the .303 to the 7.62 mm NATO and all of the Soviet stuff is what has driven choice among poorer locals hunting for the pot or insurgents looking for profit.

[stand watie]

TRUE!

COL Bell used a 7x57 mauser.