Propoganda videos from anti-hunting groups

[AfricaHunting.com]

I have met Michael a couple times and thought I should post this.

Thank you for sharing this letter with us Jaco. I'm glad to see the African Professional Hunters Association (APHA) stepping in to exonerate and stand behind Michel Mantheakis.

 

[BRICKBURN]

This is all over Africa unethical practices caught on video all over the world.

The worst hunters IMHO are those who place themselves on a pedestal because of an area they hunted once or twice.

We have enough pressure on hunting, from Anti groups, as a big UP I need to compliment Ivan Carter for not adopting a snooty attitude as we see on expos such as SCI and DSC, this proves to myself that the man understands the core issue.

………... there are scrap outfitters in every country in Africa and the world.

…………….

Jaco, you are right on the money. Ivan conducts himself as a true ambassador and you are pretty damn close behind him in my mind.

I'm tall enough already (keep that pedestal) and you know just how great I am and that's all that matters.

Glad a Professional association acted and provided support for a member. Thanks for sharing that.

 

[matt85]

this thread has been an outstanding read!

as I haven't been to Africa yet so I cant comment to the legitimacy of peoples claims that many hunts are canned or animals are abused. but as with any situation where money is involved there will be people who try to cut corners or break rules. a blanket ban on hunting or animal breeding will do nothing to solve these issues. to deal with these issues both hunters and safari companies need to band together and weed out the crooked operations that give us all a bad name. from my understanding Hunting is one of the largest sources of funding for the anti-poaching movement and brings huge amounts of money into the African economy. even the wealthiest people on the planet would not be willing to donate the kind of money hunters spend to enjoy this hobby.

while I have not been to Africa I have spent a great deal of time talking with the many hunters, PH's, and outfitters on this forum. I can tell you right off that there is no finer group of upstanding individuals on the web! if this forum is any kind of sample of what a majority African hunters are like then I refuse to believe these canned/cruel hunts are anywhere close to being as common as anti-hunters claim.

back to the original topic: extremists have never failed to amaze me with how far they will go to push their agenda. lies, propaganda, bribery, extortion, assault, and even murder are all well within the realm of acceptable if it means furthering their goals. its important to never trust information that comes across as convenient or too extreme and always consider the source!

-matt

 

[spike.t]

Thank you for sharing this letter with us Jaco. I'm glad to see the African Professional Hunters Association (APHA) stepping in to exonerate and stand behind Michel Mantheakis.

hi Jerome i presume you mean the green mile safaris video that showed Michel in for a very brief time? i first met Michel in 1989 and wanted to know what was going on with him being filmed in that horrendous video. i sent him an email and received this reply on 28th august from Nicole Mantheakis

Dear Michael,
Michel is still in the bush with clients and has not yet seen the video, though he knows it is going around. Thanks for being objective though and checking in for the facts. Many out there just jump to conclusions and join lynching parties...
He was not there as the PH nor there in his capacity as a PH. Michel was invited by them for marketing purposes only and to explore the possibilities of conducting his safaris in their concessions. He was there for 1,5 days only and then left. No business was ever conducted and there is no involvement between the 2 parties.
Regards,
Nicole Mantheakis


i am glad the APHA is standing by Michel as are hopefully his clients, some of whom carry a lot of clout in the hunting world.
he just happened to be in the WRONG PLACE at the WRONG TIME..........................

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

hi Jerome i presume you mean the green mile safaris video that showed Michel in for a very brief time? i first met Michel in 1989 and wanted to know what was going on with him being filmed in that horrendous video. i sent him an email and received this reply on 28th august from Nicole Mantheakis.

That's correct, as you said he happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Thanks for sharing Nicole Mantheakis' letter with us.

 

[Dragan N.]

Hello All,

I was just visiting another hunting website that I frequent that is set up primarily for Georgia Sportsmen. One of the members posted an 8 minute video clip from YouTube that depicted African Lion hunting in a less than flattering way. The video implies that lions are shot from the backs of trucks often with a high fence barrier between the hunter and the animal...I watched the video before jumping to conclusions, and it was very obvious that this was an anti-hunting video. The video was put out by a RSA based "sanctuary" by the name of SanWild Wildlife Trust. Home.
The woman who founded and runs this operation openly boasts her anti-hunting advocacy and commitment to her causes.

The reason for my post is that I found it extremely troubling that a lifelong hunter was moved enough to post this video on a hunting forum. His intent was not to expose it for what it truly was. His intent was that he truly questioned the ethics of hunters who have hunted Africa. He appealed to the forum members to see if anyone has hunted Africa and if this type of hunting truly exists...Of course, I immediately responded with the facts that I know of based on my expereinces in Africa. I went on to convey that any ethical hunter or reputable outfitter would never conduct a hunt in this manner. I tried to explain what PHASA is and the commitment they have to the ethics and conservation of the game...I discredited the video for what it was and issued a warning to be on the lookout for subtle propoganda media like this.

To my suprise, I received a couple of replies from members who have already been tainted by similar misinformation. They attemted to tell me that the reason they would never hunt Africa is because they heard it's all "canned hunting" This reaction is a perfect example of how the anti's are successfully planting seeds within the hunting community to divide and conquer.

I was wondering if any members here, particularly our African friends, have ever heard of SanWild and are familiar with this video? I'm not very computer literate, so I did not post the video here. I believe it's titled "raised to be killed". If you cannot find it you are all welcome to view it on the Georgia Outdoor News forum. The thread is titled "Africa hunting" under the General hunting category. Maybe you can read my responses as well and offer some help in presenting more of the facts....I seem to be under seige from our own kind....

There is no doubt that is a propaganda video, the video doesn't even really deal with canned hunts or lions being raised to be killed but rather its about her "sanctuary" and how they need money because keeping lions is very expensive. She's saying if we disappear lions will be shot for sport and nobody will be there to save them, kind of like she's the only one to ward off this boogeyman. She also posted pictures as others have noted of lions that weren't even killed in South Africa and where undoubtedly free range i.e. the one with Jeff Rann in the photo. She probably did a Google search of lion trophies and posted these.

Now as far as other hunters go-unity has never really been a strong point, there are lots of divisive issues and hunters are unwilling to fight for or even support a form of hunting they do not practice there is also a lot of debate as to what or who are true hunters and most people seem to think their group are the ones.

But another problem is there is a lot of misinformation about Africa. The most commonly hunted African country by American hunters is South Africa. Most of the hunting that occurs in South Africa is done on farms- some of which have high fences and others which have low fences. Now when American hunters think of game farms they assume that all game farms are like the ones in the US ( a lot of which are smaller than a 100 acres or so) and which are to small for the hunting to be really fair chase. South African farms are another planet a large farm there can be tens of thousands of acres and smaller ones are still thousands of acres. This makes the farms in the two countries very different. I doubt a lot of American hunters who have never been to Africa are aware of this.

Also in many if not most African countries most of the hunting is truly free range and for completly wild animals and you are in some of the last backwaters and wild areas left in the world but these prime areas usually command a hefty price. Which means very few can go there and they remain relatively unknown to American hunters who don't know much about hunting in Africa.