Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
DISCOUNTS FOR TROPHY HUNT TRIPS
Fury at ‘20% off’ for Brits to kill big game
BRITISH hunters are being offered a “cynical” 20% discount to shoot leopards, cheetahs and rhinos in Africa.
Hippos, buffalos and elephants are also on the sickening wishlist of targets.
Safari boss Brian Roodt told the Sunday Mirror he launched the promotion to lure hunters back to Namibia after the pandemic.
He insists hunting is vital if Namibian wildlife is to be protected from poachers – and claimed the animals always have a chance of escaping the sights of the shooter.
Brits travel to the south African country because of the rich diversity of big game they can stalk, track and kill. Hunters can pay up to £21,000 to shoot a leopard or £20,000 to kill a rhino – both now discounted by 20%. Roodt, 31, says on his Quality Hunting Safaris website: “Leopard hunting is largely an exercise in patience and can last as long as 12 days. This time is spent quietly waiting inside the pop-up blinds located near the bait drop. If you have what it takes, bagging your monster tom will be an experience you won’t soon forget!”
When asked if many British hunters had responded, he said: “A few. My clients are all over the world. I enjoy it and I respect nature and hunt ethically. We only hunt by foot and stalk and we make it challenging for both the hunter and the animal to have a fair chase.
“We don’t hunt hundreds of animals a year. We get a selected number of animals and we normally don’t utilise all of them.
“We also want the game animal numbers to recover and we try and harvest old, mature and past-prime animals, in other words animals that are way past breeding.
“Hunting has its benefits but we have to respect both parties and both sides’ opinions. Yes, I love animals a lot, yes I like hunting – but I do it for the right reasons.”
Dr Mark Jones, policy head at the Born Free charity, hit back: “Allowing hunters to kill for fun is no way to ‘manage’ wildlife.
“A discount is particularly cynical.
“If we are to end this heinous activity we must find humane ways of managing habitats that benefit both wildlife and communities that live alongside it.”
Game kills are heinous and giving a discount is cynical MARK JONES OF BORN FREE WILDLIFE CHARITY