87 Elephants poached in Botswana in the last few weeks

[Schulz2.0 29021]

Comes right after Botswana’s president stopped the practice of giving military weapons to anti poaching units in the country. 

https://www.npr.org/2018/09/03/644340279/nearly-90-elephants-found-dead-near-botswana-sanctuary-killed-by-poachers

[DoobieWah 1469]

That's just heartbreaking.

 

[Post Oak 20309]

 This world is such a fucked up place

[cactusflinthead 27609]

 

 No idea if it is legit 

[Gene Parmesan 4016]

What is ivory even used for these days?

[Biff Tannen 45751]

These people deserve a slow death.

[conVINCEd 21474]

They used to have execution by elephant in India.  Trained an elephant to rear back and land with one of his hooves on a rock.  Placed condemned person’s head on rock. Had the elephant do its thing.  Rinse. Repeat.  That’s what should happen to these fuckers.

[MissingInAction 25236]

1 hour ago, Gene Parmesan said:

What is ivory even used for these days?

Trump's wigs are made from ivory and the tears of orphaned baby elephants.

[deadshank 24653]

Poachers are a scourge, especially in Africa.  Shoot on sight is a great policy. 

[Dewey 3299]

What is ivory even used for these days?

I asked the same when the story was about Rhino husks, it's a sign of wealth, in China they ground the husk down to a powder for medicinal purposes. The Chineese claim it cures headaches among others. Some claim it's an aphrodisiac.

Its pathetic, to say the least

[deadshank 24653]

28 minutes ago, Dewey said:

I asked the same when the story was about Rhino husks, it's a sign of wealth, in China they ground the husk down to a powder for medicinal purposes. The Chineese claim it cures headaches among others. Some claim it's an aphrodisiac.

Its pathetic, to say the least

Don't even have to kill the rhino for its horn.  It can be tranquilized and then the horn can be sawed off.  If the governments would allow the trade with this method in mind the need to kill the rhino just for expediency by the poacher would be reduce or eliminated. 

[Deej 77002]

Yet we all find humor in Vic poaching elephants.

[Bill Brasky 1468]

3 hours ago, Gene Parmesan said:

What is ivory even used for these days?

chinese cocaine 

[deadshank 24653]

5 minutes ago, Deej said:

Yet we all find humor in Vic poaching elephants.

Better than doing it ourselves

[Aqua Buddha 14635]

The Trump administration has lifted a ban on importing sport-hunted trophies of elephants from certain African countries, just over three months after President Trump appeared to pause a first attempt to do so amid public uproar. In a memo dated March 1, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said that in place of the Obama-era blanket ban, the agency will consider importation permits "on a case-by-case basis."

The memo, which was not publicized by the agency, did not clarify the specific guidelines by which the permits would be judged. It is also not clear what role was played in the decision by the president, who has publicly expressed his opposition several times to rolling back the ban.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/06/591209422/trump-administration-quietly-decides-again-to-allow-elephant-trophy-imports

[deadshank 24653]

1 hour ago, Aqua Buddha said:

The Trump administration has lifted a ban on importing sport-hunted trophies of elephants from certain African countries, just over three months after President Trump appeared to pause a first attempt to do so amid public uproar. In a memo dated March 1, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said that in place of the Obama-era blanket ban, the agency will consider importation permits "on a case-by-case basis."

The memo, which was not publicized by the agency, did not clarify the specific guidelines by which the permits would be judged. It is also not clear what role was played in the decision by the president, who has publicly expressed his opposition several times to rolling back the ban.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/06/591209422/trump-administration-quietly-decides-again-to-allow-elephant-trophy-imports

What does this have to do with poaching?  Legal hunting and import does not equal poaching and illegal import.

[conVINCEd 21474]

1 hour ago, deadshank said:

What does this have to do with poaching?  Legal hunting and import does not equal poaching and illegal import.

There is zero reason to kill these animals at all.  Spend some time in their presence.  I went to Africa with preconceived notions of what my favorite animals would be, and elephants wouldn’t have made my top 3 going in (I was more interested in the big cats).  They emerged as a solid #1.  Such gentle giants.  The youngins are so playful, and the elders indulge them in their playfulness.  Any act that tacitly encourages or approves of the killing of them is wrong.  Period.

I’m not a big hunter (I’ll go on a random dove hunt every 4-5 years).  But I can acknowledge the fact that many hunters harvest deer for the meat, and I’m fine with that even though it’s not my particular cup of coffee. That is not the case here.  If the locals were killing elephants for the meat to provide for their families, I would be a little sad, but acknowledge it as people providing for their family.  The people killing elephants and rhinos in Africa are doing it to provide the Asian market with pseodo-remedies to, among other things, make their dicks harder.   Take a couple of viagra and leave the fucking animals alone.

 

 

 

[deadshank 24653]

10 hours ago, conVINCEd said:

There is zero reason to kill these animals at all.  Spend some time in their presence.  I went to Africa with preconceived notions of what my favorite animals would be, and elephants wouldn’t have made my top 3 going in (I was more interested in the big cats).  They emerged as a solid #1.  Such gentle giants.  The youngins are so playful, and the elders indulge them in their playfulness.  Any act that tacitly encourages or approves of the killing of them is wrong.  Period.

I’m not a big hunter (I’ll go on a random dove hunt every 4-5 years).  But I can acknowledge the fact that many hunters harvest deer for the meat, and I’m fine with that even though it’s not my particular cup of coffee. That is not the case here.  If the locals were killing elephants for the meat to provide for their families, I would be a little sad, but acknowledge it as people providing for their family.  The people killing elephants and rhinos in Africa are doing it to provide the Asian market with pseodo-remedies to, among other things, make their dicks harder.   Take a couple of viagra and leave the fucking animals alone.

 

 

 

The people killing elephants and rhinos solely for the market value of their tusks and horns are poachers and not big game hunters.  

 

[Biff Tannen 45751]

15 hours ago, deadshank said:

Don't even have to kill the rhino for its horn.  It can be tranquilized and then the horn can be sawed off.  If the governments would allow the trade with this method in mind the need to kill the rhino just for expediency by the poacher would be reduce or eliminated. 

It's keratin.  Literally the same shit as hair and fingernails.  There is no reason to ever allow this.

[F250 28879]

This stuff makes my wife ragey. I'm going to have to keep her away from the news. She already regularly donates to several Elephant funds, this might end up costing me more money.

 

[Underdog 28823]

Disgusting. 

[DigglerontheHoof 21263]

Makes me so fucking ragey 

[Zavala 1384]

13 hours ago, deadshank said:

What does this have to do with poaching?  Legal hunting and import does not equal poaching and illegal import.

Agreed.

Me, personally, I wouldn't kill an animal like a lion or an elephant, rhino ect... A mountain lion creeping around while I'm deer hunting, sure. Killing hogs on people's farms in any way possible, dogs, traps ect.. sure. 

Criticizing the people who are funding the protection of these animals seems counter intuitive. 

Option A: Rich fucks pay a shit-ton of money to take one elephant. The money funds the protection of the species from poachers, as well as the environment so they have enough food/water. They study the numbers in herds and pick out elephants that can be taken so that the pack of elephants can grow.

Option B: Legal hunting is outlawed, there isn't enough money to stop the poachers, and those idiots kill the elephants using whatever tactics, until the species is extinct. 

 

[Underdog 28823]

Do the Japs still kill sharks for their fins and throw the rest  back in the water?   That's some fucked up shit as well. 

[MissingInAction 25236]

I heard Craig James killed 87 elephants.

[texashorne 1178]

12 hours ago, conVINCEd said:

There is zero reason to kill these animals at all.  Spend some time in their presence.  I went to Africa with preconceived notions of what my favorite animals would be, and elephants wouldn’t have made my top 3 going in (I was more interested in the big cats).  They emerged as a solid #1.  Such gentle giants.  The youngins are so playful, and the elders indulge them in their playfulness.  Any act that tacitly encourages or approves of the killing of them is wrong.  Period.

I’m not a big hunter (I’ll go on a random dove hunt every 4-5 years).  But I can acknowledge the fact that many hunters harvest deer for the meat, and I’m fine with that even though it’s not my particular cup of coffee. That is not the case here.  If the locals were killing elephants for the meat to provide for their families, I would be a little sad, but acknowledge it as people providing for their family.  The people killing elephants and rhinos in Africa are doing it to provide the Asian market with pseodo-remedies to, among other things, make their dicks harder.   Take a couple of viagra and leave the fucking animals alone.

 

 

 

The money raised by legal hunters goes to protecting the elephants from poachers. In theory, this makes a lot of sense. And the poachers are providing for their family with the illegal $$ they generate from it.   

[Chewbacca 7788]

What the fuck is wrong with Asians and how they treat the natural world around them?  They singlehandedly keep the ivory trade going as well as poaching of tigers, rhinos, sea turtles, etc. because of supposed medicinal benefits of ingesting these things.  A Mexican dolphin is about to go extinct because the Chinese will pay $10,000 for the swim bladder of a fish that lives in the same area as the dolphin, so poachers use gill nets and kill dolphins.  The Japanese would pull every last bluefin tuna out of the oceans if they could.  I don't get it.  It's like conservation is a foreign concept to them.

[Gene Parmesan 4016]

I do find that a lot of Americans are somewhat hypocritical when it comes to animals/hunting/food.  Obviously everyone takes a stance that poaching is awful, and this story is disgusting, but since legal hunting has been brought up already, I do think muddies the water a bit.  I'm no hunter, and at one point of time I would have been dumbfounded at the thought of killing "majestic" creatures, but then what makes a creature majestic?  Also what determines killing for sport vs. sustenance?  Is anyone really arguing that people in this country need more food?  Are you really killing for sustenance as you drive out to your deer lease with a cooler full of food and drink?  Then am I any better if I buy and smoke 30lbs of meat because I was bored and it was a long weekend?

[deadshank 24653]

37 minutes ago, Gene Parmesan said:

I do find that a lot of Americans are somewhat hypocritical when it comes to animals/hunting/food.  Obviously everyone takes a stance that poaching is awful, and this story is disgusting, but since legal hunting has been brought up already, I do think muddies the water a bit.  I'm no hunter, and at one point of time I would have been dumbfounded at the thought of killing "majestic" creatures, but then what makes a creature majestic?  Also what determines killing for sport vs. sustenance?  Is anyone really arguing that people in this country need more food?  Are you really killing for sustenance as you drive out to your deer lease with a cooler full of food and drink?  Then am I any better if I buy and smoke 30lbs of meat because I was bored and it was a long weekend?

I'm a hunter and have taken many WTD, elk, pronghorns, mule deer, feral hogs, and the like.  All game taken were free-range / fair chase. I appreciate the "majesty" of each creature and don't take lightly the thought of squeezing the trigger.  All animals taken are treated with respect as they should be (excepting feral hogs).  Sure, some of the chase is "sport" (can I outwit and out endure the animal and get the shot?) and some of the chase is for sustenance.  I enjoy venison and the like.  I'm more proud to serve something I've taken than some Japanese massaged beef BS.  People I take game for  both enjoy and appreciate it when I give them an entire processed WTD or just a few links of sausage or some backstraps (you'll be lucky to get any elk out of me). 

Regarding deer leases, we are set up on a serious management program where the state biologist strictly dictates the amount of doe and bucks we take.  This is done through his first hand knowledge of range conditons and what is best for the herd of deer (overpopulation is devestating).  We put in significant amounts of time and money to not only hunt the animals but also improve the range to its best conditions and supplement feed the animals.  Rather than just "looking" at the animals we actively participate in the overal well being of the herd.  Sure, it doesn't turn out too well for some of them, but the alternative of starving to death or being taken by predators is not an enviable demise either.  Either the coyotes, starvation of the cavemen get you.

To note, it's not the wild west with bullets flying everywhere and carcasses stacked up like cord wood.  You'd be surprised how some old ancient buck shows up out of nowhere.  He's smart and avoided the pitfalls of being a deer.  Some have been aged out at over 9 years old, which is ancient for a WTD buck.  They've got no teeth to chew food with and are slowly starving to death, covered in ticks and full of parasites.  Those bucks aren't healthy and just refuse to die.  You've got to count coup with those guys.

Responsible hunters have an important place in the wild.

[AeroHorn 774]

14 hours ago, conVINCEd said:

...I went to Africa with preconceived notions of what my favorite animals would be, and elephants wouldn’t have made my top 3 going in (I was more interested in the big cats).  They emerged as a solid #1. ...

Elephants are clearly no. 1. No other animal combines the majesty, strength, social life, care for each other, intelligence, usefulness to humans (from fighting wars to logging forests), etc. I remember when I was a kid in India, there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, imagine my surprise when the trunk of an elephant slithered in. I had to place money at the tip, which it gracefully folded and passed it on the rider on top. Begging with style, and quite a bit of intimidation.

 

[PRONG HORN 3166]

23 hours ago, Gene Parmesan said:

What is ivory even used for these days?

 

Chinese people like it.  

[smuggs 9354]

3 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

What the fuck is wrong with Asians and how they treat the natural world around them?  They singlehandedly keep the ivory trade going as well as poaching of tigers, rhinos, sea turtles, etc. because of supposed medicinal benefits of ingesting these things.  A Mexican dolphin is about to go extinct because the Chinese will pay $10,000 for the swim bladder of a fish that lives in the same area as the dolphin, so poachers use gill nets and kill dolphins.  The Japanese would pull every last bluefin tuna out of the oceans if they could.  I don't get it.  It's like conservation is a foreign concept to them.

[Chewbacca 7788]

Is that Oddjob?  I don't get the reference.

[Gladeite 375]

Elephants are a difficult topic in Africa.  Native Africans hate elephants.  They trample and destroy their vital crops, take down fences at will and generally make life difficult for the millions of Africans that live in rural communities.  It worked out pretty well when all the natives had were spears and arrows.  A few elephants would die and the meat would be utilized. The others would be harassed and leave for more peaceful environments.  Now, there are guns and poisons.  It is much easier to kill an elephant now with either a bullet or a bottle of cyanide.   The elephants are also plagued by the poachers.  Unemployment is so high in all of the elephant occupying countries that the opportunity to make a few bucks for a small tusk, skin or horn makes poaching a viable occupation.  That and "bush meat" makes it very hard on the indigenous wildlife.   The native African does not have the concept of conservation in their background nor is it a part of the social structure.  They only understand the concept of living day to day.  

I have been to Africa many times.  I have hunted in all of the elephant countries.  It is very difficult to understand what is going on over there without experiencing it.  The continent is being assaulted by all sides.  First, the native Africans are ill equipped socially to operate as independent countries in the modern society.  Those that rule, do not do so for the benefit of the people.  Corruption and stealing of national resources is the common theme.   Democracy is a foreign concept to them.  The Chinese and Koreans are very skilled at taking advantage of these countries.  I have been 250 miles from the nearest town and gone to a village where every mud hut has a solar battery charger and every adult has a cell phone.  All given to them by either country for mining rights.  There are fake Chevys, Toyotas, F150's, etc...   They look just like the cars here in the US but are made illegally with the least expensive cast parts.  There are fake Apple stores in most large cities.  You can go in and they look just like Apple products but are Chinese knock offs.  

It is very sad there and I see no upside for wildlife in the future.  The only positive is that the continent is so large.  About 5 years ago, I was hunting in Zimbabwe when we got word that an extremely large elephant had been killed.  We went to look at it and it was 120 lbs per side.  This was near Hwange National Park and no one had ever seen this elephant before.  It had lived its 50+ year life without coming in contact with someone with a camera or rifle.   There are millions of square miles that have very little hunting/poaching pressure at the present time.  

[Wally Pryor 5266]

1 hour ago, AeroHorn said:

Elephants are clearly no. 1. No other animal combines the majesty, strength, social life, care for each other, intelligence, usefulness to humans (from fighting wars to logging forests), etc. I remember when I was a kid in India, there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, imagine my surprise when the trunk of an elephant slithered in. I had to place money at the tip, which it gracefully folded and passed it on the rider on top. Begging with style, and quite a bit of intimidation.

 

Holy shit. 

[Viper 12112]

15 hours ago, Gladeite said:

Elephants are a difficult topic in Africa.  Native Africans hate elephants.  They trample and destroy their vital crops, take down fences at will and generally make life difficult for the millions of Africans that live in rural communities.  It worked out pretty well when all the natives had were spears and arrows.  A few elephants would die and the meat would be utilized. The others would be harassed and leave for more peaceful environments.  Now, there are guns and poisons.  It is much easier to kill an elephant now with either a bullet or a bottle of cyanide.   The elephants are also plagued by the poachers.  Unemployment is so high in all of the elephant occupying countries that the opportunity to make a few bucks for a small tusk, skin or horn makes poaching a viable occupation.  That and "bush meat" makes it very hard on the indigenous wildlife.   The native African does not have the concept of conservation in their background nor is it a part of the social structure.  They only understand the concept of living day to day.  

I have been to Africa many times.  I have hunted in all of the elephant countries.  It is very difficult to understand what is going on over there without experiencing it.  The continent is being assaulted by all sides.  First, the native Africans are ill equipped socially to operate as independent countries in the modern society.  Those that rule, do not do so for the benefit of the people.  Corruption and stealing of national resources is the common theme.   Democracy is a foreign concept to them.  The Chinese and Koreans are very skilled at taking advantage of these countries.  I have been 250 miles from the nearest town and gone to a village where every mud hut has a solar battery charger and every adult has a cell phone.  All given to them by either country for mining rights.  There are fake Chevys, Toyotas, F150's, etc...   They look just like the cars here in the US but are made illegally with the least expensive cast parts.  There are fake Apple stores in most large cities.  You can go in and they look just like Apple products but are Chinese knock offs.  

It is very sad there and I see no upside for wildlife in the future.  The only positive is that the continent is so large.  About 5 years ago, I was hunting in Zimbabwe when we got word that an extremely large elephant had been killed.  We went to look at it and it was 120 lbs per side.  This was near Hwange National Park and no one had ever seen this elephant before.  It had lived its 50+ year life without coming in contact with someone with a camera or rifle.   There are millions of square miles that have very little hunting/poaching pressure at the present time.  

I've read articles about villages using beehives to keep elephants away. I'm not sure how new it is, but it was new to me.

[Gene Parmesan 4016]

So elephants are the feral hogs of Africa to some?  One man's majestic creature is another's nuisance. 

[Schulz2.0 29021]

2 hours ago, Gene Parmesan said:

So elephants are the feral hogs of Africa to some?  One man's majestic creature is another's nuisance. 

It’s not all that different from America in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The vast majority of the people are trying to eek out a living by farming and/or raising animals. Lions and other top predators are pests that kill their livelihood. They’re treated much like how we treated wolves and bears. Large herbivores like elephants come through and fuck up their crops so they don’t see much of an alternative to killing them.

A lot of Africa’s big game are on National Park’s and huge game ranches. I’m worried that South Africa’s plan to redistribute land from white landowners to the black majority is only going to compound the problem by further fragmenting habitat and habitat be turned to crop land.

Basically, as the human population expands and we use further resources, most animals are fucked.

Edited September 6, 2018 by Schulz2.0

[686 3456]

On 9/5/2018 at 12:03 PM, Chewbacca said:

What the fuck is wrong with Asians and how they treat the natural world around them?  They singlehandedly keep the ivory trade going as well as poaching of tigers, rhinos, sea turtles, etc. because of supposed medicinal benefits of ingesting these things.  A Mexican dolphin is about to go extinct because the Chinese will pay $10,000 for the swim bladder of a fish that lives in the same area as the dolphin, so poachers use gill nets and kill dolphins.  The Japanese would pull every last bluefin tuna out of the oceans if they could.  I don't get it.  It's like conservation is a foreign concept to them.

Purportedly, more people believe in Traditional Chinese Medicine than believe in The Bible. Cultures evolve over time, I'm optimistic that things will get better. A hundred years ago, we were in a similar place:

"Here in the United States we turn our rivers and streams into sewers and dumping-grounds, we pollute the air, we destroy forests, and exterminate fishes, birds and mammals -- not to speak of vulgarizing charming landscapes with hideous advertisements. But at last it looks as if our people were awakening." -Theodore Roosevelt

Edited September 6, 2018 by 686

[Chewbacca 7788]

11 minutes ago, 686 said:

Purportedly, more people believe in Traditional Chinese Medicine than believe in The Bible. Cultures evolve over time, I'm optimistic that things will get better. A hundred years ago, we were in a similar place:

"Here in the United States we turn our rivers and streams into sewers and dumping-grounds, we pollute the air, we destroy forests, and exterminate fishes, birds and mammals -- not to speak of vulgarizing charming landscapes with hideous advertisements. But at last it looks as if our people were awakening." -Theodore Roosevelt

Their cultures are a lot older than ours is.  And they don't seem to be waking up to conservation.

[Gene Parmesan 4016]

9 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Their cultures are a lot older than ours is.  And they don't seem to be waking up to conservation.

They've got a lot more people to get hard.  You can't fix the environment with a limp dick.

[686 3456]

Their cultures are a lot older than ours is.  And they don't seem to be waking up to conservation.

They have been living in isolated countries and have just started getting out and seeing the world the last two decades, and are just starting to travel to nature destinations in numbers the last few years. Once people see the finite nature of the world, conservation usually takes better hold. As the world communities continue to bash Asian black markets for animal products, and more Chinese get out, I think things will improve.

[Reagan1k 3024]

Hunting of elephants in a designated area provides needed population control, an economic/nutritional windfall for the community, and financial resources for the governments to pour back into more conservation.  Africa is a big place and there are areas where elephants are too densely populated and the planned removal of a select few bull balances the herd and protects the locals from clashing with the animals over space, crops, etc.

Those legal hunts are carefully monitored and planned by conservationists and biologists to benefit the herd and the environment.  The alternative would be to just shoot them without reaping the financial benefits that come from allowing paying hunters to do it.  The animals would need to be harvested regardless, so why not reap the benefit.  The killing of a couple of bulls in a given area does immense benefit for the herd and provides resources to protect the rest of the animals in a given area.

Poaching for on the other-hand is a criminal, immoral act driven solely by greed with no regard  to conservation, economic benefit to the stake-holders.    I get the ol' boy shooing a deer out of season during the depression or dust bowl to feed his kids.  This on the other-hand is akin to a military operation stealing economic resources and the punishment should be swift and harsh.

Shooting a elephant for sport may not be your cup of tea, but it is not without benefit to the greater good when done in a conservation-based setting.  The poachers hacking tusks and rhino horns off animals and leaving them to rot is a different deal and it's not intellectually honest to compare the two in my opinion.

[Chewbacca 7788]

15 minutes ago, 686 said:

 

They have been living in isolated countries and have just started getting out and seeing the world the last two decades, and are just starting to travel to nature destinations in numbers the last few years. Once people see the finite nature of the world, conservation usually takes better hold. As the world communities continue to bash Asian black markets for animal products, and more Chinese get out, I think things will improve.

 

I hope you're right, but after seeing how they behaved in Yellowstone when I was there last fall, I don't have a lot of hope.  

[naija 2869]

On 9/5/2018 at 3:27 PM, Gladeite said:

Elephants are a difficult topic in Africa.  Native Africans hate elephants.  They trample and destroy their vital crops, take down fences at will and generally make life difficult for the millions of Africans that live in rural communities.  It worked out pretty well when all the natives had were spears and arrows.  A few elephants would die and the meat would be utilized. The others would be harassed and leave for more peaceful environments.  Now, there are guns and poisons.  It is much easier to kill an elephant now with either a bullet or a bottle of cyanide.   The elephants are also plagued by the poachers.  Unemployment is so high in all of the elephant occupying countries that the opportunity to make a few bucks for a small tusk, skin or horn makes poaching a viable occupation.  That and "bush meat" makes it very hard on the indigenous wildlife.   The native African does not have the concept of conservation in their background nor is it a part of the social structure.  They only understand the concept of living day to day.  

I have been to Africa many times.  I have hunted in all of the elephant countries.  It is very difficult to understand what is going on over there without experiencing it.  The continent is being assaulted by all sides.  First, the native Africans are ill equipped socially to operate as independent countries in the modern society.  Those that rule, do not do so for the benefit of the people.  Corruption and stealing of national resources is the common theme.   Democracy is a foreign concept to them.  The Chinese and Koreans are very skilled at taking advantage of these countries.  I have been 250 miles from the nearest town and gone to a village where every mud hut has a solar battery charger and every adult has a cell phone.  All given to them by either country for mining rights.  There are fake Chevys, Toyotas, F150's, etc...   They look just like the cars here in the US but are made illegally with the least expensive cast parts.  There are fake Apple stores in most large cities.  You can go in and they look just like Apple products but are Chinese knock offs.  

It is very sad there and I see no upside for wildlife in the future.  The only positive is that the continent is so large.  About 5 years ago, I was hunting in Zimbabwe when we got word that an extremely large elephant had been killed.  We went to look at it and it was 120 lbs per side.  This was near Hwange National Park and no one had ever seen this elephant before.  It had lived its 50+ year life without coming in contact with someone with a camera or rifle.   There are millions of square miles that have very little hunting/poaching pressure at the present time.  

so much bullshit.

[deadshank 24653]

7 hours ago, naija said:

so much bullshit.

Drive by response.  Show your work. 

[ChickenSandwich 9856]

Have they caught and executed these fuck yet?

[Parliament 14357]

Is farm-raised elephant/rhino/etc a thing? I know Texas's exotic animal laws are rather permissive. How about raising those critters over here?

[Reagan1k 3024]

A few years ago there was an effort underway to get some rhinos over here and protect / breed them in TX.  Not sure it ever gained any traction.

Lot of red tape on both sides, and the physical process of moving them was an obstacle - they don't travel well evidently.

Wish it could work.....

In the meantime - if there was ever a good use for drone warfare - it would be to hunt and kill those poachers. 

Turn the poachers into the prey....

[Underdog 28823]

The Most Dangerous Game