It’s only three months after the tragic death of Cecil the Lion and hunters are at it again.
This time a European man has shot and killed one of the biggest elephants in the world. The creature – thought to be the largest killed in Africa for more than 30 years – was pictured on the floor next to the hunter, who is believed to be a German national, the Telegraph reports.
The images have now been widely shared on social media.
The hunter reportedly paid £39,000 to get a permit to track and shoot the bull elephant – who is estimated to be between 40 and 60 years old – as part of an organised expedition at Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe.
It was thought the elephant might have been a massive bull called Nkombo from neighbouring Kruger National Park in South Africa. But a spokesman for Kruger, William Mabasa, told the Telegraph:
If this elephant came up from the Kruger, he would have had to go through all the communities on the edge of Gonarezhou and someon would have seen him. It’s not possible.
The most disappointing thing is that when a local Zimbabwean kills an animal for food for his family, he is sentenced to between 5 and 15 years in prison but when a wealthy foreign hunter comes in and shoots an animal, he gets away with it. What message are we giving the people?
