Spanish king sorry about big-game hunt

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s King Juan Carlos I hobbled out of a Madrid hospital on Wednesday and apologized for making an elephant-hunting trip to Botswana – a jaunt that has caused outrage in a country suffering from an economic crisis.

The 74-year-old monarch, who suffers from osteoarthritis, fractured his hip in Botswana was flown back to Spain for emergency replacement surgery on Saturday. “I made a mistake and it won’t happen again,” the king told reporters outside his hospital room in Madrid’s San Jose hospital. Spanish media have slammed the monarch for the expensive trip, which only came to light because of the accident.

The trip also angered wildlife activists, with thousands flooding social media with calls for the king to relinquish his position as honorary president of the Spanish branch of the World Wildlife Fund.