Trump Defends Sons’ Shooting Spree – Sort Of
Donald Trump is well known for his support of animal charities in New York. So how did he react to his no-good sons, Eric and Donald Jr., going on a hunting spree in Africa that left a leopard, an elephant, a waterbuck, a kudu and a crocodile all dead last week?
Asked by the TV show Extra if he likes to hunt, the Donald replied: “I’ve never been a fan of it, no.”
But he declined to criticize his sons.
“They’re expert hunters. I know they’ve given the meat and whatever they’ve hunted to the local tribes,” he said.
Meanwhile, the sons have been blasted by critics all across the country after photos of the dead animals, all shot on a hunting range close to Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls, went viral across the Internet.
Two of the animals the men killed – leopards and elephants – are endangered species.
Private game lodges argue that the money they make from hunters (a license to kill a single animal can cost up to $10,000) helps conservation efforts. But even if you buy that argument, corruption is still endemic.
“The government deliberately overestimates how many animals we have so they can grant more licenses and make more money,” Johnny Rodriquez, of the Zimbabwe Conservation Taskforce, said. “If things carry on the way they have recently there won’t be any animals left in the next five or six years.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
For a detailed report on how these trophy hunts are affecting wildlife in Africa, check out “Killing Fields: Africa’s Rhinos Under Threat” in Time magazine last year