African Hunter Boasts That He Has Killed Over 5,000 Elephants

Sep 09, 2019 by apost team

Elephants are the largest living land animals. They can weigh in at around 5.5 tons. They are majestic creatures that have only one predator: us humans. Studies have shown that elephants can have strong emotions and that their brains are very well developed. Unfortunately, elephants are often the target of poachers because of their ivory tusks. Ivory sells for a lot of money on the black market. Other hunters simply kill these wonderful beasts for the thrill of it.

Ron Thomson is a hunter from Zimbabwe who has been working in Africa’s national parks for decades. He recently came under fire after talking about the many kills he has made over the years. Thomson claims to have killed more than 5,000 elephants in his lifetime. In an interview in The Independent, he defended the kills by saying that they were necessary for herd preservation and management.

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However, Thomson also stated that it wasn’t just elephants that he killed. He claims to have killed 40 leopards, 50 hippos, 60 lions, and an astounding 800 buffalo. His website describes him as an experienced African big game hunter, although he claims that he no longer hunts. Obviously, animal conservationists are up in arms over the website and his claims, but Thomson says that he does not care what others say. He also stated that he would hunt again if he was invited to.

He claims that he is a trained university ecologist and knows what he is doing when it comes to wildlife. He insisted in the same interview that he is unrepentant for the thousands of deaths he has caused. He blames the “so-called experts” who live in the United States who claim that what he is doing is a problem.

Animal activists say that he is simply trying to cover up for trophy hunters. Not only that, but the population of elephants is rapidly declining since the 1980s. According to Eduardo Goncalves, an animal activist who founded the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, the elephant population went from 1.3 million in the 1980s to just a bit over 400,000 today. One major problem for the decline is the amount of trophy hunting done.

"Hunting and ‘culling’ can create more human-wildlife conflict issues than they solve. If you remove a mature elephant bull from a herd, young males often display behaviour similar to juvenile delinquency among humans. This causes more conflict and persecution,” Goncalves said.

We're sure you will agree that no one in their right mind would want to see these amazing creatures go extinct. Please feel free to drop a comment below before passing this on to others.