Idahoan quits over dead-baboon photo

BOISE, Idaho — A top Idaho wildlife official has resigned after public anger over a photo of him posing with a baboon family he killed during a hunting trip to Africa, ending days of turmoil for a state where big-game hunting is popular. Critics, however, said the photo was seen as unsportsmanlike by hunting enthusiasts.

Idaho Gov. C.L. Otter said in a statement that he asked for and accepted Blake Fischer’s resignation on Monday, three days after the Idaho Statesman newspaper published the first report about a photo of Fischer smiling with four dead baboons propped in front of him.

The photo and others of Fischer and his wife shooting at least 14 animals in Namibia were accompanied by descriptions in an email that Fischer sent to more than 100 recipients. Fischer has said he did nothing illegal, unethical or immoral.

Fischer didn’t apologize for killing the baboons but said in his resignation to Otter that he “recently made some poor judgments that resulted in sharing photos of a hunt in which I did not display an appropriate level of sportsmanship and respect for the animals I harvested.”

The baboon family photo showed blood on the abdomen of the smallest baboon, its head lolling back to rest on the chest of one of the dead adult baboons. Fischer killed them using a bow and arrows.

It drew condemnation from longtime Idaho hunters, including Otter, who is 76 and said Tuesday that the photo of Fischer with the dead baboons hurts Idaho’s reputation as a hunting and fishing paradise.