If they knew how pathetic they looked to ordinary people, would they feel shame? Nah… They probably don’t care what others think. I speak of those whose idea of fun is to end the life of a magnificent animal, pose over his or her cooling carcass while photos are snapped, and keep remnants of the slaughtered being in their trophy rooms. [teaserbreak]
The Premier of British Columbia, Christy Clark, who heads the Liberal Party, is the darling of Safari Club International. She supports trophy hunting because, well, it brings in money. That—not the lives of innocent wildlife—is what matters to her ilk. Blood money is still money: the fervently worshipped material deity of all that matters. Safari Club International recently donated $60,000 to help assure that, in the May 9 provincial election, the New Democratic Party would not unseat Ms. Clark.
If elected, the New Democratic Party—far more progressive than the Liberal party—has promised to end trophy hunting for grizzlies. Thus, rich and powerful Safari Club International members in both Canada and the U.S. dug into their change drawers and donated the $60,000 to the Liberal election campaign, apparently through the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia (which has honored Clark with its President’s Award, cheered by her refusal to change the laws in order to limit such munificence).
The more rare and more magnificent the animal, the more these trophy hunters seem to want to kill. Perhaps it’s out of some deep psychological need to dominate, as if owning the stuffed remains of these glorious animals somehow imbues the hunter with some of the glory. (Although, of course, to most of us, it does the opposite.) And, few animals left in North America are more rare than the grizzly bear, extirpated through so much of its former range.
Poll after poll and survey after survey have shown that more than 90% of British Columbia residents don’t approve of the grizzly bear trophy hunt. Even hunters, many of whom hunt for food and sport, disdain the trophy hunter; they recognize that the “trophy” is the result of wealth, not of what they would consider skill or need. British Columbia’s New Democratic Party leader, John Horgan, clarifies that he does not oppose hunting, but that he would end the British Columbia trophy hunt if he becomes Premier.
Wildlife biologists, including those on the government’s own payroll, often stand firmly opposed to the trophy hunt on ecological and conservation grounds. That’s an important economic consideration, as two major studies have shown that bear viewing generates more tourist income than bear trophy hunting. But, you need to have bears to view—and the grizzly, with its need for extensive wilderness and its slow reproductive rates, is particularly vulnerable to endangerment.
The Liberals ended a moratorium on grizzly trophy hunts when they came to power. Now, it’s time for things to change.
Keep wildlife in the wild,
Barry