Mass escape of wild animals, police shoot to kill.

[Seth]

"game" .... what a fucking horrid term for killing without necessity.

What's "necessity?"

In Africa, all the meat from animals killed by trophy hunters goes to the local tribespeople, who eat it, which means it's of major benefit to people living a hand-to-mouth lifestyle in the African bush. The tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars that big game hunters spend in Africa go to making life better for the people, and since there are plenty of animals to hunt, indeed an overabundance of some game is the result of human overpopulation and reduction in the predator/prey balance that requires human intervention to keep the animals at healthy, sustainable levels. That money pays for much of the conservation and recovery efforts for endangered species in Africa as well.

The same is true of big-game hunting in the US. Massive numbers of whitetail deer in the east have resulted in forage shortages and illness in part because eco-weenies and bunny-huggers are too stupid to understand that the concept of managing wild game for conservation is different from the idiotic bunny-hugging notion of protecting every individual furry critter on earth and conservation requires culling the herd.

Hunting is a perfectly legitimate way to manage wildlife. It provides billions of dollars to the economy every year and the animals are all consumed, by law, after they are killed.

So your definition of "necessity" is based on ignorance, and so are your comments.

Since when are white-tailed deer "big game"?

Since they were distinguished from "small game" such as rabbits, foxes, pheasants, grouse, squirrels, by wildlife authorities.

[Bella Fortuna]

And I love a man in a uniform

Trigger Warning!!!1! :

Tower of London? I have a photo of that, I think.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Tower of London?

He'd have to drop trou for us to be sure.

[Seth]

I'm sure big game hunting has its benefits, in terms of bringing in money to poor areas of Africa and helping to pay for conservation but I will never understand the mentality of someone who wants to shoot a lion. Why bother? Why not just leave it alone? Or just take a photo of it and go home. You'd almost certainly have to be a little further along the psychopathy spectrum than the average person to want to go big game hunting...

Like any physical challenge, lion hunting pits man against a wild animal that is fully capable of killing him, and not infrequently does. These days, in most places in Africa, wild lions are only hunted AFTER they have either become man-eaters or they take to killing domestic livestock and the wildlife authorities decide that a specific lion needs to be killed. If, when that occurs, there happens to be a hunter in-country, they may be offered the opportunity to take the lion, for rather a lot of money, rather than the lion being killed by government hunters. It's a grand solution to problem lions that benefits the community and the hunter.

As for the ethics of hunting, every creature is born, lives, and dies. It matters little whether a lion is killed by a human being with a rifle or another lion, or if it dies of old age, which only happens to lions in zoos. We are part of nature, and we're the apex predators on the planet, which entitles us to kill whatever we can kill. Lions don't take ethics into consideration when they eat a wildebeest or another lion's cubs, it's just how nature works.

I have no compunctions about killing wild animals (or domestic ones) to fulfill my needs or desires. I'm a human being and I'm part of nature and it's my right as the apex predator on earth to hunt and kill. Ethically, I do so in harmony with rational conservation plans that allow for the harvest of wild game as a part of keeping the environment, and the animals, healthy. And I eat what I kill, with the rare exceptions of varmints like coyotes and prairie dogs.

Hunting, even in Africa, is closely controlled and animals are only harvested when and where, and to the extent that their populations can sustain hunting. Licenses are carefully controlled, at the specific area level, to reflect a healthy balance between wild game, the environment they live in, and human activity. It's not, as some ignorantly suggest, an orgy of mindless killing of anything that moves. It's a sport, and it's far from easy or certain that you will even see the game animal you are in search of. The typical success rate for elk hunters in Colorado is below 25 percent, by way of example. It takes skill and knowledge, it's not just going out and shooting at animals randomly.

If a lion needs killing, for whatever reason the authorities decide is reasonable, then I would be happy to pay a big chunk of money to be the one who gets to do the job. I see nothing whatever wrong with that. Somebody has to do it.

[Gallstones]

They don't have tranquiliser darts in Americaville or something? Just killing animals because some twat let them loose seems a little harsh.

Your police are outfitted with stocks of tranquilizer guns and darts, just for this sort of eventuality?

The lay public tend not to understand that darts are not a guarantee of a safer take down. Most municipalities require a person to be a licensed vet or wildlife professional to dart animals. The dosage has to be right, an accurate guestimate of the animals weight has to be made, they have to be hit in a large muscle and the dart has to stick and inject. Animals amped up with adrenaline might die or be unaffected by the tranquilizer. There is a lot of risk and guesswork involved. And the darts aren't cheap nor plentiful.

[Gallstones]

Tower of London?

He'd have to drop trou for us to be sure.

• 

[laklak]

Yeah, deer are trophy animals. There are one fuck of a lot of deer heads and racks mounted on a fuck of a lot of walls that testify to that. Squirrels and other small game can be trophy animals too. Here are a few examples:





More funny taxidermy (they're a real riot, those taxidermists)

I particularly like this one:

[laklak]

Yeah, deer are trophy animals. There are one fuck of a lot of deer heads and racks mounted on a fuck of a lot of walls that testify to that. Squirrels and other small game can be trophy animals too. Here are a few examples:





Those taxidermist are a real laugh riot. I particularly like this one:

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Imgfit FTW.

[Seth]

They don't have tranquiliser darts in Americaville or something? Just killing animals because some twat let them loose seems a little harsh.

Your police are outfitted with stocks of tranquilizer guns and darts, just for this sort of eventuality?

The lay public tend not to understand that darts are not a guarantee of a safer take down. Most municipalities require a person to be a licensed vet or wildlife professional to dart animals. The dosage has to be right, an accurate guestimate of the animals weight has to be made, they have to be hit in a large muscle and the dart has to stick and inject. Animals amped up with adrenaline might die or be unaffected by the tranquilizer. There is a lot of risk and guesswork involved. And the darts aren't cheap nor plentiful.

Most important in this case, you have to get within a few yards with a dart gun, which are not very accurate and don't have a very long range. We're not dealing with a lion in a cage where you can dart them easily, or even a treed bear, we're talking about highly dangerous big cats. Only a fool tries to approach an unrestrained lion with a dart gun and no big-bore firearms to back him up.

In this case, there was just no time and not enough manpower to worry about sedating the big cats. Blame the fuckwit who turned them loose, not the police, who were just doing their job.

[mistermack]

I also hunt solo in areas heavily populated by Grizzly bears, Black bears, Mountain lions, Wolves - the very large sort, Coyotes, and assorted venomous snakes. All of which will just as happily kill me as the deer I'm after.

What bollocks. Is that really what goes on in your head?

[Gallstones]

Sad.

October 21, 2011 2:21 PM EDT
This photo provided by the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium shows one of three leopards that were captured by authorities Wednesday, a day after their owner released dozens of wild animals and then killed himself near Zanesville, Ohio. Sheriff's deputies shot and killed 48 of the animals, including 18 rare Bengal tigers, 17 lions, six black bears, two grizzly bears, a baboon, a wolf and three mountain lions. Six of the released animals - three leopards, a bear and two monkeys - were captured and taken to the Columbus Zoo. (AP Photo - Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Grahm S. Jones)

[Jason]

I also hunt solo in areas heavily populated by Grizzly bears, Black bears, Mountain lions, Wolves - the very large sort, Coyotes, and assorted venomous snakes. All of which will just as happily kill me as the deer I'm after.

What bollocks. Is that really what goes on in your head?

Do you have a particular objection, or are you just venting in an abstruse manner?

[JimC]

I'm sure big game hunting has its benefits, in terms of bringing in money to poor areas of Africa and helping to pay for conservation but I will never understand the mentality of someone who wants to shoot a lion. Why bother? Why not just leave it alone? Or just take a photo of it and go home. You'd almost certainly have to be a little further along the psychopathy spectrum than the average person to want to go big game hunting...

I am in two minds. Given the context, I agree about the lions...

However, deep down, we are hunters. Certainly, I am not going to criticise anybody who hunts a non-endangered animal for the pot...

For a trophy, not so much...

In my day, I absolutely loved hunting rabbits in the bush. They were feral pests in Oz, which made the moral equation easier, and I fed them to the farm dogs...

But I fucking loved every moment of it...

[mistermack]

I also hunt solo in areas heavily populated by Grizzly bears, Black bears, Mountain lions, Wolves - the very large sort, Coyotes, and assorted venomous snakes. All of which will just as happily kill me as the deer I'm after.

What bollocks. Is that really what goes on in your head?

Do you have a particular objection, or are you just venting in an abstruse manner?

I have no objection. It's your head.
But if you share what's in it, I'm entitled to comment.

There were three million visitors to Yellowstone last year. Are all of those animals "happily killing them" ?

I think your imagination is running riot.