Just to make you feel a bit better pede, trophy hunts in Africa are the reason these animals still have a habitat. All the money goes into conservation of the animals, and all the meat is donated to locals since it can't be transported out of country (at least to the USA). Also, when bull elephants (so I assume it happens with rhinos as well) get too old, and can't breed, they begin killing younger calves so they won't be challenged as the alpha. These are the animals that are sectioned off and sold for hunts, It's all part of conservation, though if you're not a hunter I can see it seems cruel no matter how you look at it. Please understand, if there was NO trophy hunting, these animals would go extinct. These giant ranches wouldn't exist, thus they would have no reason to protect the animals (their profit) anymore, that land would become farmland and animals hunted to extinction by the locals. Thats why the left always shows the photo of Don Jr's elephant hunt. It makes him look evil, killing Dumbo, or your favorite stuffed animal. In reality when it can cost $50k for an elephant hunt, all that money just goes back into the protection of the animals. I have heard instances of ranchers literally hiring mercenaries to protect some species. Hope this makes you feel a little better about the subject, this was more than likely, a mean, sterile, old bull that the hunter spent a fortune on just to get this picture.
I am not a hunter, but my husband is. I support hunting and I have raised, slaughtered and butchered meat rabbits. For us, it's about feeding our family. Trophy hunting is a separate thing, and I don't have a strong opinion either way on it. I just think hunting is more a feed the family thing and less a pride thing.
Just to make you feel a bit better pede, trophy hunts in Africa are the reason these animals still have a habitat. All the money goes into conservation of the animals, and all the meat is donated to locals since it can't be transported out of country (at least to the USA). Also, when bull elephants (so I assume it happens with rhinos as well) get too old, and can't breed, they begin killing younger calves so they won't be challenged as the alpha. These are the animals that are sectioned off and sold for hunts, It's all part of conservation, though if you're not a hunter I can see it seems cruel no matter how you look at it. Please understand, if there was NO trophy hunting, these animals would go extinct. These giant ranches wouldn't exist, thus they would have no reason to protect the animals (their profit) anymore, that land would become farmland and animals hunted to extinction by the locals. Thats why the left always shows the photo of Don Jr's elephant hunt. It makes him look evil, killing Dumbo, or your favorite stuffed animal. In reality when it can cost $50k for an elephant hunt, all that money just goes back into the protection of the animals. I have heard instances of ranchers literally hiring mercenaries to protect some species. Hope this makes you feel a little better about the subject, this was more than likely, a mean, sterile, old bull that the hunter spent a fortune on just to get this picture.
I am not a hunter, but my husband is. I support hunting and I have raised, slaughtered and butchered meat rabbits. For us, it's about feeding our family. Trophy hunting is a separate thing, and I don't have a strong opinion either way on it. I just think hunting is more a feed the family thing and less a pride thing.