I always get in trouble on this topic, but I figure for every one of those fenced lions shot we just saved one wild lion, so let them have at it..I don't book fenced Lion hunts, wouldn't shoot one, but a lot of game is shot behind a fence and if thats what blows your skirt up then have at it..Why is it OK to shoot a fenced Sable or Kudu and not a Lion??
Thanks Ray,
There are many types of hunts available in the world. You have to choose what you want to do for yourself. What may be unethical for one person is normal for someone else. I have hunted lions in Tanzania on a 21 day hunt and have never hunted one in an enclosure, but others do and it is what they like to do. Let each person decide for themselves what hunt they want.
I personally don't see any difference from hunting a kudu, sable, eland or other animal that is in an enclosure to a lion in an enclosure. Too many factors come into play to make a blanket decision on this. Size of property, method of take, condition of the hunter and on an on.
There are already laws prohibiting "canned" hunts. So most of the captive bred lions are now hunted in large "almost" free range areas after they have been released and a long waiting period has occured so the lion has already adapted to the new territory.
S. Africa lion hunting takes a lot of pressure off the lions from other countries that have very limited quota. They are also not recorded for the history books as a free range lion either.
There is a place for a lot of different types of hunts. Captive bred or Free Range? If you hunt the only water source in the area and sit at the waterhole, is that Free Range?
We need to all decide for ourselves what hunts we want to do. And then we are all hunters without putting down someone else's decision as to method or style as his personal choice.