GUILTY PLEASURE: A rare inside view of what makes animal trophy hunters sick
The bottom line is that some people get pleasure out of killing other animals who are brutally slaughtered for fun, bragging rights, and to celebrate birthdays. They also speak of the thrill and the enjoyment.
MARC BEKOFF: Eduardo Gonçalves is an award-winning conservationist, campaigner, and investigative journalist. He also is recognized as the world’s leading authority on the so-called “sport” of trophy hunting, and in 2018 he founded the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting (CBTH)In 2019, the UK government agreed to introduce a ban on trophy imports which is due to be debated in Parliament later this year. ..
In his new book “Undercover Trophy Hunter”, he explains the psychology of trophy hunting through the words, thoughts, and feelings of hunters themselves… Because of his tireless efforts and three other books, he has been described by the Daily Mail as “Britain’s most prominent anti-hunting activist”…
Previous research has shown that trophy hunters’ “pleasure smiles” are greater when they pose with large “dangerous” corpses. Also trophy hunting is pretty pricey and hunters will pay more to kill large-bodied carnivores. For many of them part of why they hunt is to show off and let others know they can absorb the cost.
The bottom line is that some people get pleasure out of killing another animal when they really don’t have to do it. Clearly, being beautiful does nothing to save the lives of these charismatic animals who are brutally slaughtered for fun, bragging rights, and to celebrate birthdays…
Given his non-stop schedule and his global stature, I’m pleased that Eduardo could take the time to answer a few questions about his fourth and unique book called Undercover Trophy Hunter: Britain’s Top 20 Hunters… Here’s what Eduardo had to say about his riveting look into the why’s and how’s of trophy hunting by 20 men and how they describe their exploits…
MB: What are some of the topics you weave into the text and what are some of your major messages?
EG: The first thing that struck me was how casually British hunters described the terrible wounds they inflicted on animals. They say things such as “Bright red blood was sprayed everywhere with pieces of tissue mixed in;” “My bullet smashed through the rear leg removing most of the bone and destroying muscle;” and “There was a pleasing amount of blood. We found intestines caught on the thorns.”
Some seem to take pleasure from this. One said: “I heard the smack of a hit and saw it go down on its side, legs in the air. I was grinning.” Another wrote that “I squeezed off the round and heard the satisfying thwack of the round hitting home”…
They also speak of the thrill and the enjoyment. One of them joked: “We grab a few beers and have a bit of fun shooting the monkeys.” Others confessed: “You see something and you get all adrenaline over it and you pay anything for it” or that “Shooting them out of trees with bows (was) really cool, really fun!” SOURCE…
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