Go back and see my Ivan Carter post-I am in full agreement with you on #1. Yes, I know the sanctuary area is Hwange National Park. I have been there.Bob Juch wrote:1) The sanctuary was Hwange National Park. Where he was killed did not permit killing of lions; the landowner "was not allocated a lion on his hunting quota for 2015". His corpse was left to rot in the sun.Spock wrote:A train of thought that I was developing during the "They Want to Meat" thread of last fall is that the urban, western mindset (as epitomized by the Cecil debacle) only sees the animal and are incapable of seeing the larger context.
What has been the main themes of the story.
1) Cecil was lured out of a sanctuary to bordering land.
I have seen no news stories about the size of the sanctuary. Is it a 20-acre roadside zoo or something larger? What is the nature of the boundary between the properties? Has it ever been reported that Hwange National Park is a Switzerland-sized area with no fences to surrounding properties. Animals move freely throughout the larger area. We hunted about 25 miles north of the park and there were no barriers between us and the park. In all likelihood, Cecil crossed the park boundaries many times over his life.
2) Cecil was wearing a research collar.
What is the context of this? Has it been reported that it is legal to shoot a collared lion(assuming all other factors are legal) in Zimbabwe. In fact, to my knowledge it is legal here to shoot collared animals as it is part of the mortality and adds valuable data to the study.
Has it been reported anywhere(other than me here and on Mrs S's Facebook page) that a collared lion killed a child outside the park last year. Just because a lion is wearing a collar does not mean it was tame. Such a lion is subject to all the area factors that any other lion is.
3) The basic response by most is "Trophy Hunting Bad." I see a lot of artificial split between trophy hunting and meat hunting. Has anyone ever grasped the fact that (except for rare exceptions) the trophy's meat is used as fully as a meat hunted meat is.
There is nowhere to take a Cecil-centered discussion other than "Trophy-hunters suck"
I have mentioned this book before and I know that nobody who should read it will-However, the book is "Game Changer" by Glen Martin.
http://www.amazon.com/Game-Changer-Anim ... 518&sr=1-1
This book gives a continental look at what is going on with wildlife in Africa and would give a common framework to look at some of the specifics such as "Cecil" with a better understanding of "Cecil" in context of the land and people of Africa.
If anyone here has a suggestion for a book for me to read that provides a larger context more to their liking-I am certainly open to it.
2) It it not permitted to kill a collared lion in Zimbabwe. Theo Bronchorst, a professional hunter, and Honest Trymore Ndlovu, a landowner, have been arrested for poaching. They tried to destroy the GPS collar.
#2-I trust Ivan Carter on this one-Assuming a legal lion hunt-A collared lion is legal to shoot. The legal problems are arising because they tried to destroy the collar.
