Editor:
The wave of revulsion and condemnation of the perpetrator in the wake of the shooting of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe is justly earned. It is truly debilitating to see pictures of U.S. dentists, doctors and women trophy hunters posing with the carcasses of elephants, tigers, lions, leopards, rhinos, etc. Whatever misguided statement these misanthropes are trying to make is lost on most people who simply ask, “Why are you slaughtering these magnificent animals?” The ability to kill a lion or an elephant is simply a matter of having enough disposable income to purchase a hunting guide and a high-powered rifle or bow … and an atavistic mindset completely out of touch with the realities of the 21st century.
The slaughter of Cecil the lion may be on the other side of the world but similar trophy hunting atrocities are allowed in B.C. against a range of our wildlife. In 2013 Clayton Stoner, an NHL hockey player with too much money and too little personal ethics, generated controversy with his wanton display of his grizzly trophy from the Great Bear Rainforest.
Opponents of trophy hunting will raise questions about economics, population control, etc. but these are all specious arguments in the face of the ethics of killing defenceless wildlife as a trophy. It is high time that trophy hunting in B.C. be banned. It is a poor reflection on the ethics of our society.
Write to the premier and your MLA to demand the end of trophy hunting in B.C.
Tony Greenfield, president, Sunshine Coast Natural History Society
