It's horrifying to imagine that it is still legal to hunt elephants in South Africa, but it IS legal. They claim that the hunts, usually paid for by weathy tourists, serve to stimulate the econonmy. However these hunts are usually done on private land and very little of the money would be distribiuted to needy South Africans. African elephant numbers have declined drastically in recent years due to poaching, culls, and hunting. The ivory or head is taken, and the body is left to rot. African Elephants are now on the vulnerable list, verging on endangered. Why is it still legal to kill them? Please, help put an end to it.
Bob Parsons, CEO of GoDaddy.com, is a known big game hunter and is pictured on this petition hunting with his family. If your website is hosted by GoDaddy.com, I highly encourage you to look elsewhere for web hosting.
Websites that offer legal hunting:
http://www.africanskyhunting.co.za/trophy-hunting.html
http://www.africabig5.co.za
http://www.huntinglegends.com
Dear President Zuma, Deputy President Ramaphosa, and Mr. Khulekani,
It's heartbreaking to hear that endangered African Elephants are legally being killed in canned hunts in South Africa when there is a massive poaching crisis. When there is no wildlife, there will be no tourism. Money coming into the country will slow and your ecosystem will suffer. In some African forests, up to 30% of tree species must first pass through the digestive system of an elephant before it can be dispered and germinate.
Please, I beg of you, put a stop to the legal killing of these magnificent, sentient beings. Rangers are dying at the hands of poachers. People are giving thier lives to protect these animals. Trophy hunting is senseless. To pay to kill something is sociopathic. Hunting should be done to sustain our health and to provide food, not simply to kill. To kill for the act of killing is murder and it should be illegal.
I sincerely hope you consider my plea. I have committed my life and education to bettering the lives of Africa's people and wildlife. I have chosen to sacrifice being with my family and risk being also killed by poachers because the future of Africa is worth it. We can only do as much as we can, but we must at least to that much. Please don't let my sacrifice be in vain.
Sincerely,
