Nothing in recent memory has excited the global animal liberation smellies quite as much as the killing of Cecil the lion last month. His death, at the hands of the American dentist Walter Palmer, is undoubtedly the greatest coup these campaigners have had in years, but does it also show the hypocrisy of the liberal twittocracy?
I have no idea why anyone spends their hard earned money chasing wild animals around with the purpose of killing them, but then again I am as unfit as I am unable to shoot straight. What I do know is there is almost complete consensus in countries like Zimbabwe that hunting is a vital part of conservation.
In fact hunting is seen as so integral to the protection of the natural environment that in April 1991 the South African newspaper The Weekly News ran a front page article about Nelson Mandela going hunting. The headline was “Mandela Goes Green” with a photo of him holding a rifle and one of the game animals he had personally shot.
The byline stated “A hunting trip converts the ANC leader to conservation”, and the article goes on to talk about the ANC leader taking a “two-week holiday at a Lowveld nature reserve hunting”. For the avoidance of doubt the paper explains he spent his time with the KaNgwane Parks Board which is “renowned for its methods - including hunting and culling of overpopulated species”.
Mandela was lorded for being “green” on his trip to Lowveld not in spite of hunting but because of his embrace of the sport. The article makes it clear Mandela recognized the need to make the park sustainable by foreign tourists, including hunters. These hunters pay a fortune for what they do (Palmer handed over $55k), and that is the only thing that pays for park rangers and all the conservation work they do.
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Whatever Mandela thought he was never really challenged by the left, they loved him blindly. When Mandela hunts and poses with a rifle next to an animal he has himself shot, it is lauded as a paragon of Green, progressive virtues.
When an American healthcare professional engages in precisely the same activity for the same reason he is turned by the liberal left into a global pariah. The same people who are calling for the murder of Walter Palmer, also see Mandela as some sort of man god who could do nothing wrong.
Where was the campaign to have him prosecuted? You didn't miss it, it didn't happen, because the liberals don't care. They want to attack little guys like Palmer, but care little for criticism of leaders they like.
Mandela was right to hunt, it is part of the economy of Africa and a long-standing tradition. Those who disagree with Palmer ought to condemn everyone who hunts in Africa rather than picking out a few Americans to scapegoat. And if they do not object to Mandela's actions they should not be harassing Palmer.
Today American, United and Delta Airlines all buckled to the global liberal twittocracy and announced they will no longer ship lion, leopard, elephant, rhino or buffalo killed by trophy hunters.
This is yet another example of how Cecil the lion is being used to marginalize the legitimate hunting industry. Perhaps it will be illegal soon, and the media circus that demanded the ban will do nothing to repay African conservationists for the money they lose.
Mandela is seen as a saint by liberals, perhaps they need to accept that saints hunt. Dry your crocodile tears kids, conservation demands hunting!
Oh, by the way, Mandela bagged an impala and a large blesbok roan. The park director, Jeremy Anderson, told The Weekly News that Mandela shot the roan “through the heart” which he assured them was “a perfect hunter's shot."
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