Botswana, home to 130,000 elephants, is auctioning off the rights to hunt and kill 70 of these animals. A ban on hunting elephants was lifted last May, and every year, Botswana issues 272 hunting licenses.
Neighboring Zimbabwe allows 500 elephants to be hunted each year.
I am not opposed to hunting. Though it’s not something I would ever do, I don’t think that hunters are doing anything wrong. I eat my share of cheeseburgers, so it would be hypocritical of me to criticize anyone for killing an animal in the wild in order to eat it.
I can even understand why people enjoy the sport of hunting. The challenge of tracking game in the wild and the skill required to hit a live target with a weapon is not appealing to me, but I can understand its appeal.
I also understand the value of hunting in terms of protecting the species. In some cases, reducing the population of certain animals like deer can actually improve the overall health of the species. Also, the money earned from selling these hunting licenses can be used to preserve endangered species overall.
Kill a few to save the many.
I get all of that.
But hunting elephants?
Even if the money spent on your hunting license ultimately saves the species, you have to be an enormous douchebag to want to hunt an elephant.
A desperate, attention-seeking man-child with an enormously fragile ego and a sense of entitlement that is wholly undeserved.
