Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/11/17/right-to-arm-bears.html
…
1 Like
I guess this is what happens when you give the power of law to alt-right internet troll. Policies hand-tailored to troll liberals.
17 Likes
It’s worth pointing out that it is, and was legal during Obama’s presidency as well, to import Elephant parts taken as trophies from other African countries such as South Africa, which has robust and reliable game regulation (as far as that goes). But Obama did sign the directive making it illegal to bring home game from Zimbabwe and Zambia, which have had population decreases without explaining why. This Trump ban-reversal only applies to these Z-countries.
The real crazy part of this is the timing; Zimbabwe is currently going through what is effectively a coup.
5 Likes
-
I thought the ivory ban was international? The recent surge of new upper and middle class Chinese have seen the price for ivory sky rocket as it is a traditional status symbol.
-
SANCTIONED hunts are part of wildlife management, cull usually older males, and do aid in the conservation of the population as a whole. That is if the people in charge are doing it right. Culling is part of wild life management and helps insure they aren’t creating too many that will reduce their natural food supply, forcing them to starve or move off the reservations where locals will kill them to save their crops or livestock (in the case of lions).
So as distasteful as Trump is, sanctioned hunts aren’t the problem.
- POACHING certainly is a problem. If this new ban lift is going to encourage more poachers, then it certainly is a bad thing.
6 Likes
It’s like these guys are playing a game of How Much More Terrible Can You Be?
If the climate change denial, racist policies, twitter wars, tax breaks for the rich etc etc weren’t enough - they have to one-up their own putrescence with this bullshit.
Shameful.
8 Likes
And we’re not even one year into his presidency. We’re in for a long, horrible ride.
5 Likes
I’d be surprised if there were more than maybe a few dozen Americans in the whole country who care passionately about being able to bring home elephant hunting trophies. This policy shift seems designed solely for the benefit of accommodating the shitty hobbies of an oligarch’s sociopathic children.
14 Likes
True - the examples you link to are much much lower on the Bristol Stool Scale of shitty behavior.
I find solace in the hope that Trump and his idiot barnacle stooges keep going after relatively petty or minor transgressions against human dignity. Keep his focus on talk show politics, celebrity twitter battles, golf course zoning regulations - and maybe we will never see Stalin-level atrocity.
2 Likes
This is outrageous!
Why are we importing elephant heads when American zoos are teaming with snowflake elephants parading around smug and carefree? With the help of much needed tax breaks, we can keep those big game hunter jobs here in America!
MAGA!!!
5 Likes
6 Likes
i’m not a vegetarian or anything, but people who kill elephants should be subject to the same penalties as if they had killed another person. without getting into a debate about what defines personhood, let’s just say i think it’s clear that elephants are more intelligent and emotionally expressive than most people.
3 Likes
Yeah, my thoughts went right to “But what kind of psychopaths are interested in shooting elephants and why are we doing things that makes their lives more pleasant?”
I guess some would wonder why I’m singling out elephants for special consideration, maybe I’m not being fair to less empathetic animals like deer and bears and fish but I can’t help it. Elephants are amazing and the world would be especially deprived if we ever lost them as a species.
In fact, we need to figure out a way to revive the woolly mammoth.
1 Like
Sorry, but I don’t buy into the “but the Chinese are doing X” as an excuse for continuing our own bad acts.
This IS a very good argument, and I would be very supportive of it, except that many of the hunting tours advertise the curated exclusivity of an event in the wild, not that they will be participating with a group of hunters in a culling near farms, ranches or villages being pestered by elephants. Also, the hunting of these animals does not need to result in a stuffed trophy. You want a trophy, take a picture.
Unfortunately, there seems to be lots of evidence pointing to this being the end result, no matter if this is truly well intended or just a ploy by Trump to get the boys to shut up about wanting to bring home their trophies.
I didn’t say that, did I? I doubt any American hunter is chomping the bit to sell to the Chinese. I said that the market for ivory has inflated the price, which makes poaching more attractive, which tied in to my third point, that if the bill makes poaching easier by being able to smuggle ivory it’s bad.
There are private land reserve hunts, it depends on the place and the laws. Legal sanctioned huts with licenses from wildlife management are still controlling the population just like deer hunts in the US. As the article mentions, those licenses will wax and wane with the population. Which is why hunters of all types are some of the most active in promoting conservation and habitat restoration in the US.
I agree, which is why I said it’s bad.
1 Like
What a shitbag.
1 Like
Kinda unusual to talk about Zimbabwe being ruled by Mugabe when there was a coup on Wednesday.
Mr Mugabe had been under house arrest for days. The army made its move after a power struggle over his successor.
The military said on Friday it was “engaging” with Mr Mugabe and would advise the public on the outcome of talks “as soon as possible”.
Meanwhile Christopher Mutsvangwa - the leader of the influential war veterans’ association, once loyal to Mr Mugabe - said he should step down at once.
2 Likes
I’d wager that the majority of the people who are cheering this change on are either related to or big donors to the president. And that all of them are multimillionaires.
What’s that I smell?
Is it another Mnuchin family photo op?
I keep thinking that if Trump doesn’t pace himself, he’s going to run out of Obama accomplishments to overturn before his term is up. Then what will he do with his time?
2 Likes
