Wildlife tourism should replace trophy hunting in Canada

[Ohwildwon]

Daphne Bramham: Animals here need protection as much as those in Africa

http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Daphne+Bramham+Animals+here+need+protection+much+t hose+Africa/11288585/story.html


I almost threw up my breakfast reading this one....

From "Trophy Hunting is under the guise of wildlife management", to "giving names to hundreds of big game animals"...

Just brutal...

[quarterman]

I read it, what a joke. The vancouver sun should be embarrassed to publish it.

[gutpile]

I wonder if all the animals he's eaten over he's Live time had names ?

[Bubba123]

Cognitive dissonance.

Objecting to the slaughter of animals, while enjoying a nice juicy steak.

[goatdancer]

How many wildlife tourism operators are lined up just waiting to take tourists into the Bull River just for the remote chance that they can get a pic of G-bears in action?

[Carrollizer]

Well this season I hope to get Bucky the Deer, Gerald the Grouse, Harry the Hare and the other ones I forgot the names of....
Looking forward to this Fall get together...

[Good2bCanadian]

Hahahahhaa^^^

Dont forget, Charlie the Cauliflower RIP, Pete the Potato, Larry the Lettuce RIP

[Chango]

You want to fully throw up your breakfast?
This is how much of the public view wildlife.

Norwegian Park Allows Visitors to Play with Wolves Under the Northern Lights (http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/polar-park-howl-night)
Norway's Polar Park (http://polarpark.no/wolf-english.html) allows visitors to get up close and personal with majestic wolves that would ordinarily be enclosed behind a fence. For their Howl Night, guests can spend the night amongst these mysterious animals as they howl beneath the moon (and even the Northern Lights). People can observe the wolves' habits, cuddle with them, and see them as they've never seen them before—all in a safe environment and without fear.
In the wild, wolves are inherently afraid of humans and this can cause them to lash out when they're stressed. As for Polar Park's animals, they were raised to enjoy the company of others and feel calm around humans. Visitors are welcome to use this rare, up-close setting as an opportunity to learn more about the welfare of these gorgeous creatures.

http://api.ning.com/files/pwNUcGVK-dWTpY1wNQ6bXZHzlkwMBRQF8gjoxhWw9iUAo7R6D9emOQphekL M4PgQ9PQL7Lm2CMJVIxZ-1ctfmgFhccyPO6hc/Wolf1.jpg
http://api.ning.com/files/pwNUcGVK-dXVVicnuq3Iyx2qxVPhaxCmbB1jw2lAFNFeIFjs9L18lgyhs2Z RhQ1-0RLn1fybxiDN4UhfbAsnOjNEBbhtAWSn/Wolf3.jpg

[Steeleco]

Try that outside the park and you'll be making front page news. Opps sorry, the obits are at the back!
I hope the clown in the first pic get Parvo.

[steel_ram]

Don't think there's too many people willing to pay $10,000 to take a photo of a bear, sheep, etc. in 90% of the places they occur. Same thing in Africa. The famous wildlife reserves can be managed by tourism dollars but when you get away from them, hunting is the only thing keeping wildlife populations from becoming bush meat.

[gutpile]

Hmm first lick's it's ass than licks him !

[bandit]

This is definitely the latest fashionable cause. The "world animal protection" are out on Robson Street in Van right now lecturing people on the cruelty of blood sports.

When Cecil hit the deck they must have been rubbing their hands with glee... 6 months of easy fundraising cash without lifting a finger

[adriaticum]

There is no such thing as trophy hunting.

[Sofa King]

my wall is covered in trophies.
and I'm hunting for more to add to it.

https://nazleypixblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/08012011052_1.jpg (https://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRxqFQoTCJy49fHxqccCFcg6iAodZrwK9g&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnazleypixblog.wordpress.com%2F20 11%2F01%2F08%2Ftrophy-shelf%2F&ei=ko_OVZynH8j1oATm-KqwDw&bvm=bv.99804247,d.cGU&psig=AFQjCNEISx9cO9X_4mPlMnDPQUo_1MwFCw&ust=1439686918761399)

[adriaticum]

I had no idea you do ballet.

Well trophy ballet should be illegal.

[Rob Chipman]

Branham's take on the issue is, clearly, logically inconsistent. That said, I just listened to Shane Mahoney on Randy Newberg's podcast - episode 4 of Hunt Talk (it's a good podcast, imho, and is worth checking out). Mahoney, like many hunting conservationists, has thought this through much more than most knee jerk anti-hunters.

He brought up what I think is an important point, and it addresses something I've been struggling with. Like many of you on this forum I have friends who I like and respect who oppose hunting to one extent or another.

They usually strike me as uninformed people whose hearts are more or less in the right place.

In other words, they share many values that a lot of us hunters do. For example, they like animals and don't like to see animals suffer. (Before anyone hurries to point out the inconsistencies of saying the like animals and don't want to see them suffer while chowing down on some chicken/pork/beef/habitat destroying lentils, try to remember that I already see the inconsistencies).

Mahoney put a choice out there for hunters. Would you rather:

1) live in a world where there were hunters on the one hand, and anti-hunters who care about animal welfare on the other, or;
2) live in a world where there are hunters and where nobody who isn't a hunter gives a damn about the loss of any wild life?

Most of us would choose the first option, I suspect. Which means that we actually have something in common with people who ignorantly suggest giving cute names to charismatic mega fauna that they do not really understand. With friends like that who needs enemies, right?

What's my point? Branham buys ink by the barrel and has a big platform that allows her to influence people. Hunters are not going to counter her point of view or counteract her influence by getting angry at her. We need to come up with something more effective. I'm not sure what it is, but there is a big divide, and we need to bridge it somehow. We need more allies and fewer enemies.

Right now we do a lot of preaching to the choir. As an example, take Adriaticum's tag line "There is no such thing as trophy hunting". Nobody here will seriously dispute that statement, because we understand what it means.

Throw it out into the general population on Facebook, on the other hand...

I think we need to bridge the gap between uninformed but strongly opinionated people who do actually share some of our values and ourselves.


It's a fact that hunting is in the DNA of every human alive (whether they hunt today or not), that hunters are more sympathetic to wildlife than anyone else and that modern hunting (fair chase and ethical) is critical to wildlife preservation. Tourism won't cut it.

It's also a fact that thoughtless commercialization of wildlife is damaging to hunters (I welcome any dissenting viewpoints on that. I think I've thought that one through).

So, curse Branham to the heavens. She's using a big platform to be thoughtless and irresponsible.


But also give some thought to the idea that we hunters have something in common with most anti-hunters, and that a lot of us know and like some very passionate anti-hunters. I suspect a lot of those anti-hunters we know and like actually oppose what they think hunting is and does, rather than what hunting actually is and does.

[panther]

Trophy hunting of 'Tigers' has been banned since 1970, when an estimated 2000 Tigers were left in the wild in India. 45 years later & millions of dollars spent on various conservation projects the Tiger population has dwindled to 1300. At the beginning of 20th Century there were estimated 100,000 Tigers in the then British-India (present day countries of India, Burma, Pakistan & Bangladesh). The Tiger hunting was strictly regulated by the govt. till WW2 when, tens of thousands of Allied military personnel came to India for training & on transit to Burma. Securing a Tiger skin (Trophy) was the biggest object (outside, crushing the enemy - Japs & Nazis) in the minds of these soldiers and in many cases the only form of recreation in those dark days. Many were shot illegally, with the help of the locals, while the govt. officials were busy with war preparations. By the time of the end of British Raj in 1947 the Tiger population has dropped to 40,000. Twenty three years of wildlife mismanagement left India with very few forests & little wildlife within. Since the CITES convention of 1972 the 'Project Tiger' has received hundred of millions of dollars through WWF & other organizations with dismal improvement in the number of Tigers & its prey. The 'Trophy Hunters' in this case were simply replaced by 'poachers', only in increased numbers.
The problem of decreasing wildlife population lies with shrinking wildlife habitat & increased poaching, NOT in 'Trophy Hunting'.

[Rob Chipman]

I think similar experience in Kenya, from what I've heard. Trophy hunting banned in the 70s. Wildlife numbers dropped substantially. Meanwhile in Tanzania it's the exact opposite.

[IslandBC]

The problem with the options Mahoney gave is that in both; hunters are viewed as having zero respect for wild life. Like you said, most anti-hunters have no real perseptive of what hunting is about and no one besides other antis to educate them about it. They see a trophy hunt as a senseless killing. kill it, skin it, leave it; but are not told about population control, predetor control. That meat wont just sit there and waste, other animals will make use of it too. I think us as hunters not educating the public is the issue. I watched an interview where Joe rogan talks with Jim Shockey, EVERY anti hunter should have to watch that interview before throwing out an opinion.

[Rob Chipman]

I may have related Mahoney's options poorly. If you listen to the podcast I don't think you'd come away with the idea that he implies that hunters have zero respect for wildlife. In fact, he makes a very persuasive argument to the contrary. He is a hunter and is very pro-hunter, including trophy hunting.

I've heard Rogan's podcast with Jim Shockey and I agree with you. In fact, both the Shockey podcast and the Mahoney podcast would be very challenging for anti-hunters to listen to without changing their minds.

I think what Mahoney was getting at (among other things) is that anti-hunters motivated by a love for animals have a lot in common with hunters. They may not know it, but they do.

If you liked the Rogan/Shockey podcast and haven't heard Newberg's, check it out. I think its good.

[IslandBC]

Definetly ill check it out. I just no by expearience, before i met my wife i did not hunt. Her and her dad were hunting freaks and got me into it and now im HOOKED. To be honest though my views were not very far off of an uneducated anti hunter. And until i actually listened to what they had to say and go on a few hunts. Then it clicked for me.

[.300WSMImpact!]

my wall is covered in trophies.
and I'm hunting for more to add to it.

https://nazleypixblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/08012011052_1.jpg (https://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRxqFQoTCJy49fHxqccCFcg6iAodZrwK9g&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnazleypixblog.wordpress.com%2F20 11%2F01%2F08%2Ftrophy-shelf%2F&ei=ko_OVZynH8j1oATm-KqwDw&bvm=bv.99804247,d.cGU&psig=AFQjCNEISx9cO9X_4mPlMnDPQUo_1MwFCw&ust=1439686918761399)

wow looks like you were good at gymnastics