Vets To Save African Wildlife but....

General General Discussion
1

A group calling themselves VETPAW went Africa to supposedly help deal with poachers:

"One way activists in the United States are supporting an end to poaching is by enlisting retired vets to take part in an organization that puts their years of combat training to work overseas. The non-profit VETPAW (Veterans Empowered To Protect African Wildlife) is focused on protecting African wildlife from illegally being hunted and captured.

And a recent addition to that group is Kinessa Johnson, a US Army veteran who served for 4 years in Afghanistan. At the end of March, she and a team arrived in Africa to take on a new mission: According to her, “We’re going over there to do some anti-poaching, kill some bad guys, and do some good.”

Full article HERE

However, flashy pics of an attractive tattooed gal posing with various weapons before she ever stepped foot in Africa as well a TV show, etc, didn’t sit well with many, and the result:

Reports: Nonprofit VETPAW kicked out of Tanzania

"A small but splashy veterans group with lofty plans to take on African poachers has been kicked out of Tanzania in the wake of what appears to be a self-inflicted publicity blitz run amok.

A six-person team with VETPAW — Veterans Empowered to Protect African Wildlife — was ordered to leave the East Africa nation following a burst of controversy surrounding the group, according to multiple local media outlets in Tanzania’s largest city, Dar es Salaam.

According to VETPAW posts and comments online, the team had been accompanied by an Animal Planet film crew that was producing a show on the group. A spokesman for the network did not return repeated calls for comment.

In a recent press conference surrounded by dozens of fatigue-clad Tanzanian park rangers whom VETPAW had come to train, the head of the country’s Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources said he was “saddened” by recent posts that have been circulating widely online.

Those have included pictures of “tactical model” Kinessa Johnson — a former Army diesel mechanic now with VETPAW — posing with various weapons and gear."

Full Story HERE

The “Tactical Model”…

Kinessa2.jpg
Kinessa2.jpg866×866 80.4 KB

2

Definitely read the whole article to get the total context.

Guys, I got to tell you, as an old guy, who got a couple tats at age 18 when I was in the Marines, she ain’t going to look good in 20 years.

3

She doesn’t look good now …

4

Yeah…sorry but tats like that on women is just nasty…sorry!

5

I don’t find her un attractive per se, but the issue is about the group using her (or any “tactical model” ) holding various hardware before ever stepping foot in Africa, bringing a film crew for a TV show, and making statements like "“We’re going over there to do some anti-poaching, kill some bad guys, and do some good.”

Fail squared. Chick with tats not really the issue per se.

6

Some buddies of mine gave me the link to her spread probably a month ago. I thought it was over blown publicity at the time. And still do. They definitely shouldn’t have drawn this much attention to themselves, maybe they/she thought it would benefit them. I’m all for doing something like this and I can’t say I haven’t looked into it, but given Africa’s history with mercs most of those countries won’t allow non residents to participate in anything mil/Leo/game warden etc.

7

Tats aside, she has some serious looking arms on her.

8

She isn’t gonna look any worse in 20 years than if she didn’t have tattoos. Or do non tattooed people mystically grow more beautiful with age? That’s certainly how they make it sound like. Age, and gravity affect us all, stop kidding yourself into thinking you’re gonna be some beautiful senior citizen.

9

I actually worked with a guy who went to Africa on an anti poaching mission for a summer. He came back and was pretty disappointed. The entire system there is corrupt. All they give a shit about is money. And there is big money in poaching. The people who work at animal preserves are looking the other way for the most part to get extra cash in their pockets.

How else did you guys think all the black rhinos that were on “protected land” but are now gone actually died? They don’t care about stopping the problem, just feeding their families.

Africa being Africa shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone here.

10

If they had not been so crazy with all the tactical photos and her crazy statements…they might have gotten to go in and do some good.

Too much up-front action beforehand if you ask me. Shouldn’t this type of mission go with no real announcement? I think so.

11

I really hope someone somewhere starts racking up a body count on these poaching piles of shit. The problem is money in Africa, and it’s mostly being bought by the Chinese. No one cares about endangered species, when there are dollars to be made.

12

Rhino horn is worth more than cocaine in the Far East. $30,000 a pound.

13

That is insane.

14

Especially considering it does absolutely nothing for a human body.

15

She did turn it into a circus and was probably hoping to cash in on a reality TV show. I’m not even sure “save the animals” made her Top Ten priority list. I’m sure another problem was the idea of a “female” having authority (let alone discretion to kill) over males in Africa. That probably went over like a lead balloon. If anyone thinks there is a “War on Women” in this country, they really should go visit Africa and quite honestly most of the rest of the world.

16

Last year or so there was a TV show about this same thing. If I remember right there were 5-6 retired military guys on the show. They were a mix of operators from various branches of the military. I don’t think it even lasted a season.

Just found it after a google search

Animal Planet’s 2013 miniseries "Battleground: Rhino Wars,

17

Looks like VETPAW has been kicked out of Tanzania. Link below doesn’t print a pretty picture about them

http://www.militarytimes.com/story/veterans/2015/05/07/reports-nonprofit-vetpaw-kicked-out-of-tanzania/70963970/

18

What? She’s not an operator? But…but…she’s got lots of tattoos with…like, frightening skulls and stuff. I mean, the article made it sound like she’s the first female graduate of Ranger School and used a Brillo Pad for a tampon during Jungle Phase.

Truth be told, than Tanzanian government did the right thing. These jokers were far more likely to get themselves or some innocent civilian killed than bag any bad guys.

19

waxing poachers good.

shameless fame/reality tv cash in bad.

20

I’m not sure where 20 years comes into play…she doesn’t look good right now.