Jericho had been caring for his brother Cecil’s cubs
Cecil the lion’s brother Jericho was killed by poachers on Saturday, the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force has reported on its Facebook page.
“We are absolutely heart broken,” the post reads.
Jericho had been caring for his brother Cecil’s cubs after the beloved 13-year-old lion was killed by a Minnesota dentist, Dr. Walter Palmer, on July 1. Authorities in Zimbabwe are calling for Palmer’s extradition, and his guides face fines and jail time.
I see absolutely no issue with killing animals for pest control, protection of property/self/others, or food. I guess I take issue with killing things for trophies. I don’t see the sport in killing something that poses no threat to you. If these lions knew you were hunting them and could also operate tools in the same fashion as man, sure, I could see the sport in it.
In the US, game wardens frequently carry a revolver and operate alone, with the nearest backup being half an hour or more away - often many hours away.
In many places in Africa, game wardens carry Kalashnikovs and operate in squad or platoon-sized groups (often they operate in even larger groups).
Because that is the difference in relative threat level that is faced. So if you want to hunt poachers in Africa, it won’t be the usual hunting by yourself with a PH and a small band of laborers - it will be a fireteam of your best friends, another fireteam or two with the PH and armed locals, backed up by another squad or even a company of game wardens.
Not saying that it wouldn’t be fun. But it would probably be significantly more dangerous than hunting any of the Big Five with a PH in today’s Africa and likely more expensive.
(CNN) - "Conflicting reports emerged Saturday on whether Jericho, the brother of slain Cecil the lion, was also killed Saturday in an illegal hunt in Zimbabwe.
Johnny Rodrigues, a senior park official and head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, told CNN that a hunter illegally gunned down Jericho in Hwange National Park.
The task force also reported on its Facebook page that Jericho was killed at 4 p.m. local time.
Later, however, an Oxford University researcher tracking Jericho told CNN that the lion was alive and moving as of 8 p.m. local time Saturday, based on the GPS data from the animal’s collar.
The GPS device didn’t suggest that Jericho was killed or that anything was out of ordinary, said Brent Stapelkamp, a field researcher who is part of a team tracking Jericho in Zimbabwe.
Other government officials weren’t immediately available for comment."
At any rate, i believe poachers should be given a one way ticket to a nice neighborhood in Mogadishu.
The best argument I’ve heard for hunting the these trophies is that they can raise so much money selling off the rights to hunt a few that they fund programs that keep the species alive. Of course, that’s not poaching.
Can we do Poachers vs. Pirates- The Africa Smackdown…
I was in Rocky Mountain National Park last week and we’d go wildlife watching every night after dinner. There are so many Elk that we started calling them RMNP Rats.
All I know is that I should have been a dentist. Those guys seem to have the best balance of free-time and money. Whenever a local business deal goes sideways and goofy, it seems like a dentist is involved as a money man in some fashion.
I had to raise an eyebrow at it as well. Our local CDOW Wardens drive Ram 2500’s, have ATV’s, and carry modern semi autos/tasers, and AR15’s and Shotguns. They often work in concert with local LE as well.
I don’t know any Texas game wardens. Or any Colorado game wardens. Or Virginia game wardens.
I suppose things must be different down there. Somewhat fewer grizzly bears, I imagine. And more people, more money, and more game wardens. Montana has about 45. (Our highway patrol, for comparison, has 243 troopers.)
I live in one of the most populous counties in Montana and there are many places a deputy sheriff can end up - towns, even - where they won’t get back up for an hour or more. Rarely do I see more than one officer in any law enforcement vehicle, whether it is city police, campus police, county sheriff, livestock inspectors, FWP, or hipo.
In any case, it appears that SiGs are what is issued to FWP game wardens. I’d guess the same 357 SiGs issued by the Highway Patrol. In brown leather holsters with brown leather snap top magazine pouches carried on brown leather belts. Can’t say that I’ve ever seen MTFWP game wardens carrying a long gun, though I imagine they have 870s with slugs and rubber buck in their trucks. They are probably also issued the same PALS-covered soft armor as hipo, too.
I may have been confusing the state FWP with all the 44 Magnum ammo one of the LGS’s has sold to Yellowstone’s park rangers.
Take for instance a black rhino hunt that went for $350k back in May. This old rhino that is incapable of breeding is still territorial and can kill younger males (that can breed). So what is better? Keeping the old rhino alive, potentially killing younger males, and eventually dying naturally for $0. Or sanction a hunt for this older rhino and remove it from the gene pool for $350k? $350k goes to the game reserve to build more fence, hire more guards, whatever. Culling is biologically beneficial, culling for a lot of money is even better.