In my opinion, there is simply never an excuse for trophy hunting. The idea that someone can take pride in shooting a creature simply because they want the pleasure of saying they have done so is not just distasteful, it’s borderline sick.
Even so, each day the world over thousands of animals are killed in the name of trophy hunting. Some people then pose for photos with the corpse of the creature they’ve killed, thinking it will win them renown or fame.
People like Mike Jines. A hunter and partner in TopGen Energy, Georgia, he made headlines in October, 2018, after a hunting trip to Zimbabwe.
As per reports, Jines killed not one, but two baby elephants, going on to pose with their dead bodies as proof of his ‘exploits’.
The pictures were posted to Facebook by a man named Darell Eisman, who felt they needed to be shared.
“Apologies for the disturbing photo,” the post read, “If you’re really upset by what you see, then make this go viral along with an email letting Mike Jines know what you think.
Needless to say, the call to arms, as it were, had its intended effect. People were horrified by the cold of killing of the elephants, prompting widespread backlash on social media.
Not only that, but a trend began to boycott TopGen Energy, the company with which Jines is a partner.
Eventually, Jines was made aware of the hate being channeled towards him. He tried to claim he had shot the two calves in self-defense, excusing the killings as necessary as well as saying they weren’t actually babies.
As per CBS 46, Jines said: “The two (elephants) that are shown in the photos were shot in self-defense, in an unprovoked charge and both elephants were fully mature cows, not juveniles.”
We will never be able to accept the hunting of animals for sport. The fact that some people will then pose for trophies is simply another level of wrong.
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