Doing the rounds on social media at the moment is a picture of millionaire banker and Tory party donor, Sir David Scholey. His notoriety on this occasion, is not to do with his wealth or his political allegiance, it is because he is pictured posing behind a bloodied and very dead lion which he shot on holiday in Africa. He seems proud of himself, and indeed boasts of having hunted all over the globe. Others who are less enamoured with his exploits asked him about his bloodthirsty hobby, but he is unrepentant, saying, "I have been hunting all over the world for many, many years and I have always hunted within the legal arrangements of the country concerned. I regard that as an entirely personal matter. All the animals I hunt are wild beasts. And I have felt threatened by them at times. The lion I killed certainly wasn't an endangered species where I was hunting it. Obviously, if I felt there was anything wrong in it I wouldn't do it. The object is to dispatch the animal with a bullet it never hears. That's why it's important to be a very good shot before you even think about hunting. I continue to hunt big game, not as much as I used to but I do continue to do it." Sir David is part of a flourishing industry which makes huge sums of money from killing trophy animals. There are about 160 ‘farms’ raising lions in South Africa today.
Her body is no more than a factory farm for lion cubs; a living money spinner for the unscrupulous and the heartless, whilst the South African government rake in the taxes and money from tourism.
In the late 90s South African law was such that a captive bred lion must live for two years in the wild before it could be hunted. The breeders challenged this in the high court and won, and canned hunting took off to such a degree that almost 2,000 lion trophies were exported in the first few years after lifting the ban. Consider that there are only about 2,000 lions left in the wild, and this becomes an even bigger shame for that country. There is also a growing demand for lion parts including bones for Chinese remedies, and many lion skeletons as well as living animals are exported to the Far East for use in medicine and for exhibiting in zoos. Inevitably, the canned hunting business has led to an upsurge in poaching as everyone wants a slice of lucrative lion pie. So much so, that the wild lion population has declined by 80% in the last 10 years. Fiona Miles, Director of Four Paws Lions Rock Sanctuary in Africa, says it is shocking that the majestic King of the jungle has been turned into a commodity to be used and abused by people hungry for profit. Education and tourists with cameras rather than guns may be the way forward, but those in the know say the ‘lion walks’ are just a front. Another way of exploiting their tame lions before they sell them on to other concerns to be shot like fish in a barrel or end up as a Chinese aphrodisiac, or a living hell in a foreign zoo. Most of us would agree that this trade in lions earns South Africa little respect. It is depressing and distasteful that the repulsive sport of hunting any animal is perpetuated and encouraged by governments who should be protecting our wild life heritage. A lion’s head on a wall or full length as a rug is nothing more than a vulgar status symbol of bored wealth. Pieter Kat's official LionAid blog posted some information on one of Britain’s own political party’s thoughts on lion hunting . Pieter was alerted to an auction to be held at the Gala Dinner for the UK Independence Party. One of the items on auction was, “Lot 12: The skin, with head, of a lioness shot in Zimbabwe. (Reserve £200). Donated by Geoffrey Clark (who did not shoot it!). Current bid stands at £250.” LionAid objected strongly to this auction as did Catherine Bearder MEP. The Independence Party was invited to a BBC Radio interview with LionAid, but Nigel Farage declined. UKip, unmoved by the morality of the issue, did put out a statement on their website claiming that whilst the auction was not to everyone’s taste, the lion skin plus head was an antique which was originally given as a gift to a party member after working in Zimbabwe. UKip revised the auction wording claiming, "Antique skin, with head, of a lioness shot in Zimbabwe. (Reserve £200) Donated by Geoffrey Clark (who did not shoot it!)." So there we have it. Another crime against nature by big business making huge profits from pandering to those who have more money than conscience. Canned hunting, showing the courage of the rich who aren’t afraid to go up against a tame lion armed only with a shotgun and backed up by an army of guards. These vile specimens of humanity are then delighted to pose for their holiday snaps, grinning broadly beside the still warm corpse of what was once a beautiful living animal.
1 Comment
B. McPherson
1/18/2014 01:52:57 am
People who kill for entertainment are seriously deranged. It doesn't matter to me if it is a fish, an alligator or a lion. Sir David obviously has lost his moral compass. He has been blessed with status and money and chooses to spend it on destructive activities.
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