Businessman Proudly Poses With ‘Baby Elephants’ He Shot And Killed In Africa

u/magszinovich/Reddit/Amanda Martin/Twitter

A businessman from Georgia has been photographed standing beside two apparently very young elephants, holding a gun.

TopGen Energy partner, Mike Jines reportedly shot and killed the elephants while in Zimbabwe, Africa. The alleged hunt took place in October 2018, but the photos have only just come to public attention.

It has been alleged that Jines went trophy hunting accompanied by professional hunter Max ‘Buzz’ Delezenne.

According to Pet Rescue Report, Jines reportedly gave the following account before the photographs went viral:

The hunt started with a bang… literally. Less than thirty minutes into the first morning of the first day we experienced a double elephant cow charge.

This was obviously a first for me but it turns out it was a first for Buzz as well. We saw a group of cows from the road and decided to follow them to see if a tuskless was in the group. We caught them quickly and identified a tuskless…

We positioned ourselves to get a good look at the tuskless and concluded that since it was just Day 1 we would pass. An instant later she came in an all out charge. Buzz and I both fired two shots a piece and she went down. Then from behind us a large one-tusked cow charged at full speed. We each fired one shot and she crashed to the ground with her hind legs out behind her…

The upsetting photographs have since gone viral, with many people expressing absolute horror. Some have even called for a boycott of TopGen Energy.

One person tweeted:

There’s evil, and then there’s you #mikejines one can only hope the universe and all that is just punish you for killing those elephants. Boycott #TopGenEnergy.

Another said:

Boycott #TopGenEnergy. Mike Jines is a barbarian. Killing a baby Elephant for fun? How is this fun? Cruel and Heinous! An innocent, intelligent, and beautiful creature’s life was taken for NO REASON!

Jines has claimed he killed the elephants in self-defence, and that the elephants had charged at him. He has also refuted the animals were infants and instead two adult elephants.

As reported by CBS, Jines has claimed the elephants ‘were shot in self-defense, in an unprovoked charge and both elephants were fully mature cows, not juveniles’.

Speaking about the outrage these pictures have provoked, Jines made the following comments according to CBS:

While I can appreciate that hunting can be polarizing and that views on hunting can vary materially, I am sure that you can appreciate what it is like to deal with the vitriol particularly when the underlying information in this case is inaccurate.

Jines – who says he has received threats as a result of the backlash – has stated the events which occurred have been misrepresented. However, many of his critics have been left unconvinced by his side of the story.

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Julia Banim

Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.