Big game hunter crushed to death
 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-n...nter--10469997

A professional big game hunter is dead after he was crushed by a wounded elephant as it was fatally shot.

Theunis Botha, 51, was on a hunt in Gwai, Zimbabwe, when his gro[/URL]up was charged by four breeding elephants.

A female elephant picked up Botha in her trunk after he fired at the others and collapsed on top of him - crushing him to death - after she was shot by another hunter.

Heartbroken friends described the married father-of-five as a "legend", while opponents of big game hunting offered little sympathy following his passing.


Theunis Botha was killed by an elephant when he was on a hunt in Zimbabwe (Photo: Facebook)

Botha often took wealthy foreigners on hunts for leopards and other animals (Photo: Theunis Botha/Youtube)

Botha and two other men pose with the giant tusks of an elephant
Botha, from the South African town of Tzaneen, and the rest of the group were out for a walk on Friday afternoon when they came across the herd.

A source told Netwerk24 that Botha shot at three elephant cows as they stormed the hunters.

A fourth cow stormed from the side, lifted Botha with her trunk and was fatally shot by another hunter. The elephant then collapsed onto Botha.


Elephants and lions were among the animals hunted during Botha's safaris

Botha came from a family of cattle ranchers and big game hunters

Botha and another man pose with a crocodile that was killed during a hunt
The South African specialised in big game safaris and often took wealthy foreigners on hunts for lions, leopards and other animals after founding his own company in the 1980s.

Friends paid tribute to him on Facebook, where one wrote: "RIP Theunis Botha. Our heartfelt condolences to Carike and family. He was a great man! So sad!"


Botha's company was called Theunis Botha Big Game Safaris and Hounds

One of Botha's friends (not pictured) was recently killed by a crocodile during a hunt

Another friend added: "A legend has fallen but will never be forgotten... It's with a sad heart that we say goodbye to you Oom Theunis Botha. Our deepest condolences to the family. May God be with you all in this difficult time."

Critics of big game hunting responded with little sympathy.

One person wrote: "You should be crying for the innocent elephant that was senselessly murdered not this idiot hunter who deserved what he got."

Heartbroken friends described Botha as a "legend" of big game hunting (Photo: Facebook)

The married father-of-five ran his own safari company out of South Africa (Photo: Theunis Botha/Youtube)
Botha's friend, Scott van Zyl, 44, was killed by crocodiles during a hunt in Zimbabwe last month, Netwerk24 reported.

Botha's company, called Theunis Botha Big Game Safaris and Hounds, as he was known to hunt with dogs, is a family operation run with his wife Carike.

In 1878 his ancestors moved into a wild and rugged region of South Africa, becoming cattle ranchers and hunters, the firm's website states.

It adds: "In the year of ’66 Theunis became the latest addition to his family, and was privileged to be raised in the ways of the bush and its people."

He served in the South African infantry during the Angolan War and left the Army after reaching the rank of sergeant.

After returning home he started offering hunting safaris in 1989 to pay for his studies, and completed a degree in psychology and anthropology in 1991.

His first client, Bill Reynolds, from the US state of Montana, hunted a leopard on the family's game ranch bordering Kruger National Park after his hounds picked up the animal's scent, the website states.

It added that Botha pioneered traditional European-style Monteria hunts, where game are driven with dogs, in South Africa.

Glad that piece of shit is dead.

At the end of the day, there's a family without their loving father, and that's a terribly sad thing.

If you're opposed to what he did for a hobby, that's irrelephant

No ****s given. I'm sure his shitty little kids will avenge his fathers death and kill several more elephants.

Karma karma karma karma karma karma kmelephant

Well, I'm glad to see you're addressing the elephant in the room.

Too bad this guy didn't.

I don't think a lot of people understand the concept of conservation when it comes to big game hunting or hunting in general. First of all, a distinction needs to be recognized between illegal poachers and lawful hunters. Permits are granted by the government, which can cost upwards of 50k for certain animals. Older animals are selected that have been cast out of their herds and are exceedingly aggressive posing a threat to the herd in general. They are past their mating prime and endanger younger bulls and cows that still have a long life of mating potential ahead of them. The proceeds are used for further conservation efforts to prevent poaching of the healthy members of the herds, and stimulate otherwise stagnant economies. There is no doubt that big game hunting preserves endangered species. Poachers, on the other hand, can burn.

I'm sure that's the case in every big game kill, right??? I'm sure greed has nothing to do with this.

Greed might have something to do with the hunters motivation, but what difference does it make if it's done the right way? Greed is satisfied, herd is protected, and local economies thrive. The people who can afford to hunt cannot be made to be less greedy. It's a pragmatic win-win-win approach.

It's no different with hunting whitetail or fishing. You pay for your tag/license, and the proceeds go to the parks to further their enjoyment for future generations.

Get rekt you cuck

And you get an F in logic.

Greed or self interest has been an entire for a great many things, some good and some bad. Is Elon Musk greedy? Don't buy a Tesla. What about Peter Thiel? Do t use Pay Pal.

You don't respond to his data or his argument but instead make a snarky insult that doesn't address the issues he raised and demonstrates a profound ignorance of economics and game management. At least the dead guy was involved with management of natural resources. This far you appear to have contributed nothing to either human civilization or the thread.

:clap:

RIP Flopnuts

Encounters a logical and well reasoned view that disagrees with his emotional knee jerk reaction. Responds with ad hominem attack.

Well played.

A lot of people in this thread are being real Dumbos about this situation

Seemed like a nice guy. Would have loved to have several beers and get trunk with him

Pun not overlooked :)

I'm glad he's dead

Youre glad hes dead because he hunted??


What?

Always amazed by the rationalization it must take to shoot a leopard (pics in article)...with a gun you didn't invent, with ammunition you didn't manufacture, using gunpowder you dont know how to make, driving a jeep you bought and consider yourself a sportsman. How can you look what you've done and not feel like a complete loser. It's like beating up a handicapped child.

That cat would own that fat **** in 5 seconds on a level playing field.

Taking joy is killing beautiful animals is psychotic. It's one thing to kill to survive..it's another to collect trophies for a sagging ego.

Nature took care of this asshole.

I glad because he sucks...**** him.

My views on this matter are highly refined, nuanced and enlightened. Yours are just shit.

He hunted animals in accord with the law. He did not hurt another human being. He complied with what biologists said would help the herd, even if you have never seen the herd, don't understand biology and have no direct evidence about what happened.

And you are glad he's dead.

What a piece of shit. I don't care if you agree or disagree. But rejoicing in someone's death when: 1) you've never met them; 2) they did you no harm, and 3) they did no people any harm, is really twisted. Rejoice when a serial killer dies? Fine. Rejoice when at the death of someone whose philosophy killed many like Marx or Mao, okay. I can understand. But to rejoice at the death of someone who does something completely legal but that you disagree with ... that's twisted.

You apparently have never lived in a place where wildlife can truly kill you, nor do you appear to understand how humans actually fit into the natural universe. You come live in remote Alaska for a couple of years and face some brown bears. Then tell me about hunting and killing animals. Until then, you don't know shit and you discredit yourself every time you open your mouth.

It is estimated that poaching alone is decreasing African elephant populations by 7% a year. Not sure where there is room for a legal hunting of elephants until poaching is under control and there numbers begin to rebound. Elephants are also among the animals that mourn their dead most intensely. I can empathize with the losses of both the family of the hunter and elephant.

Hunters pay like $20,000 to hunt an elephant. Then if you get one, you still pay a $10,000 trophy fee. A lot of that money goes back into conservation, some to the locals.

Hunters don't take the meat -- it goes to the locals.

Hunters pay for more than the elephant and that provides local jobs.

I reserve my hatred for the poachers who supply the Chinese ivory market. 70% of ALL ivory goes to China, much of it illegally obtained.

The number of elephants killed by big game hunters paying $20,000 a pop is NOTHING compared to the numbers poached for Chinese ivory. Nothing.

I would never want to kill an elephant. They are too majestic and cool for me, long lived and loyal to their mate. But who am I to tell someone else they can't kill an elephant while I am chowing down on my steak. That would be hypocritical. Just keep the quotas low so as not to deplete the herds.

The more profit locals make from hunting, the more enforcement they can afford to fight poaching. Selling hunts is an investment against poaching. Poor villages cant afford to pursue and prosecute poachers.

I am not anti-hunting. I do think as a society we are sometimes just a little quick and glib in offering our justifications for hunting. For example, it would be easy to make the case that humans are overpopulating earth and that by culling selected ones it would help all the rest. Of course I don't think we should cull humans for that reason. I pretty much think the same about elephants. Take all the deer that can be sustainably replaced.

That depends on the place. There are places where elephants are endangered. And there are places where management practices supporting here growth promote a herd size above what the land can support. It's like saying "there are no wolves in Colorado so we shouldn't allow them wolf hunting in Alaska,".

In the areas where there are too many elephants, elephants devastate the crops and land of local people and excess elephants need to be culled (killed). These practices have occurred over the last 100 years.

Again, we can disagree about the efficacy of these policies or what is the best policy, but there's a huge chasm between reasonable disagreement/reasoned discussion and wishing someone dead because they disagree with particular game management practices.

I wonder if there isn't a way to raise as much cash to support conservation another way? As an evolutionist, I don't think it is hypocritical at all to protect some animals more than others based on their cognitive development. Eat dumb cows. Preserve smart and emotionally developed elephants.

Yeah, I'm not dancing on anyone's grave.

Are you implying that fighting handicapped children is a comparable threat as leopards are to modern hunters?

I know the ****ers bite and can be uncharacteristically strong, but be realistic.

Conservation doesn't account for the emotional value that humans place on animals. Same goes for evolution.

As an "evolutionist," you should already know that.

As an evolutionist I value human life above animal life because of our capacity for thought and emotion. Likewise I value the life of an elephant more than I do a mayfly, or a dolphin more than I do a squirrel or a gorilla more than a goat or a squirrel more than an E. coli.

First off...this jack-**** wasnt about living in Alaska and killing bears to protect himself. I know EXACTLY how humans fit in the natural scope of the universe...and it inst as impressive or idealistic as you seem to think...Human laws and universal laws are far from compatible. He has less value than an elephant...it doesn't kill to impress it's sadistic, materialistic friends. It kills out of necessity. It lives in unconvoluted harmony with the elements...something Buddhist monks spend their whole lives trying to achieve. This dude flew to Africa with the sole purpose of destroying for pleasure and trophy collection..a phenomenon that is uniquely human. If there is one species that is at odds with the flow of nature...it is us. We destroy shit for the sake of destroying it....or on a deeper, esoteric level, we despise god.

Natural law spoke when the elephant crushed his shallow ass. He invited his own demise...there is a beauty in that.

Umm...I dont really think leopards are a threat to modern hunters... much in the way handicapped kids arent likely to start a bar fight.

All bar fights are started by handicapped kids.

Think about it...

That's being a humanist.

Evolutionist is something else entirely.

There is some truth there...leopards dont pick bar fights.

Frozen must be a lawyer. You an tell he loves s having debates lol respect

Ringling Bros. had their last circus yesterday. Elephants have no moar use . Might as well kill them all.

Trying to kill two different animals at once? That's what you get trying to Multi-Tusk

I'm not against hunting. But I am against TROPHY hunting, hunting just for a trophy. He killed an amazing and rare animal just for the sake of stroking his ego and bragging rights. IMO that is morally reprehensible. Not at all the same as killing a (more than abundant) deer for food, or eating a stupid ****ing cow. And the whole conservation idea some of you are pushing is NOT the reason he killed the elephant. None of those guys give a hoot about the animals. They kill for the thrill of killing a rare and majestic animal, and for their enormous egos. Not at all justifiable.

And the whole "their government does it for conservation" is just bullshit. Their governments do it for MONEY. They are poor and corrupt countries.

It isn't about protecting oneself. It is about knowing your place in nature. You say that killing for pleasure is uniquely human. This shows your ignorance. I've seen wolves kill caribou and moose and keave them to rot. Or just eat a tongue or asshole. Then leave the rest. Chimpanzees wage wars on other apes. Gorillas and baboons pluck birds. Cats, large and small, toy with their prey. You might have heard the phrase "cat and mouse". Animals kill other animals in absolutely cruel ways. Live in Alaska and you quickly realize nature is not a Disney movie and animals do not respond simply for your philosophical comfort in middle class America.

You say human and universal laws can be incompatible. Fair enough. My point is not that human laws point out mortality. Rather, game laws are designed to maximize the numbers of particular species. If he's lawfully hunting elephants, it means that game biologists determined that removing a certain number of elephants benefits that species. And the funds he paid to do that further benefit the species. Again, we can reasonably disagree whether such policies are ben facial or not. We can reasonably disagree about the best way to promote elephant herds. But it is a twisted **** that is glad a person dies simply because of disagreement about game management principles.

You say there is beauty in the elephant kill g this guy. No beauty but I admit I respect this guy for facing his mortality and risking death much like I admire a mountain climber who dies. But I don't rejoice in his death.

Check out Reddit.com/r/natureismetal

Then tell me how wonderful animals are to each other. Tell me how humans are different. Nature is red in tooth and claw. It isn't a bunch of bundle of sticks animals singing Hakuna Matata. And I respect someone with the balls to confront their own mortality vis a vis facing the real prospect of death while hunting large game far more than someone whose idea of danger is driving home from work every day.

We are supposed to be smarter than wolves. Some of us are anyway.

I am and I do.

Thank you.

They are not mutually exclusive.

I will say this: I eat meat therefore I cannot claim any position of moral superiority compared to someone who hunts. A hunter kills, but I pay someone else to do the killing for me. The difference (to me) is that a hunter enjoys the kill. I don't. I would kill an animal and eat it if that was how I had to get my food. But I don't take pleasure from killing. Does that difference make me a 'better' person than the hunter? Again, no it doesn't. It means that for me it would be wrong to do, so I don't hunt, because I don't have to. I do despise trophy killing because it feels very wrong to me. But in the end that animal does not give a flying **** whether you want to kill him because you're hungry or you want to kill him because you want some sort of prize. Dead is dead.

We should let weak dumb and sick humans die.. why waste resources on weaker parts of our society when they drain the chain

Nope...dont give two shits about this sadistic ****...or what genetic code he unfortunately passed on to the world. If you kill for fun...it doesn't just stop there. I dont know anyone that seeks out killing beautiful animals for entertainment...and dont want to. That level of empathetic disconnect is frightening,

If you want to rationalize this as an activity spiritually grounded people do, go ahead..I'm sure it's a rush to watch a leopard wither in pain, piss itself as blood pours out of its mouth...while you slap hands and chest-butt hiding behind a bush like a coward with a laser scope. "we got that bastard minding it's own business"..."**** yeah". "I'm thinking Arbys"....****ing sub-species.

This guy decided he wanted to play god...and found out just how tiny he was. The symbolism is classic...nature crushed his ass.

Also..I wouldn't project human deficiencies on animals...they dont kill for sport.

You are doing good work in this thread. Sadly, for naught.

Rep anyway.

Lots of animals kill for fun.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surplus_killing

Dead is the heart of someone that enjoys/seeks out making something suffer.....

Hunting for food...and hunting because you get off on killing are two different psychological activities.

This wasnt hunting...there was no purpose other than to hang a stuffed head over the mantle place... in hopes your narcissistic peers praise you. "look what I did..arent I AWESOME...mommy...daddy"? It's some weak-ass shit perpetrated by some spiritually-stunted humans.

I bet you'd like to get trunk

Say what you will about hunting...

...but enraging the largest land animal on earth without adequate precaution or protection isn't exactly smart. Speaking of darwin...

You suck Alex trunk, so there's that.

You are circumventing the filter here, a no no. Or at least it used to be, not really sure anymore since the kids took over. Just spell it out.

karma

This sums up my feelings on this.

A big legal battle will ensue as the human family seeks to recover the body from it's display on the wall of the elephant family's den. The elephants will file an identical countersuit

Might as well consider all the big african animals gone. Too many dumbasses in africa multiplying like mice. See what bushmeat goes for in african cities.

Only way to save the animals, is reduce human population.

I've never understood the thrill of hunting. Done it once didn't get it. Stupid waste of time in my book. Big game hunting is the worst of all of them. Good for the elephant giving that man what he deserved.

tusk, tusk, tusk...

So much judging of this poor guy. If he were still alive I think he would flatly deny that big game hunting is wrong.

:D

Those 2016 Roll Tide National Champions shirts floating around their country are little more relevant now.

This has GOT to be a Far Side comic. There's no way Gary Larson hasn't drawn this one. If not, you may have stumbled across something amazing

My only real regret in life is that innem posted first.

This is a masterwork.

CP, where you get just as much sympathy as San Quentin, maybe a little more

I agree, I'm sure he felt the consequences of his chosen profession weighing heavily upon him. He must have been crushed by the results. At least he took his best shot at it.

Yeah, that's certainly how it's supposed to work. But due to the lack of regulation and amount of potential profit to be had, there's also a huge amount of bribery and paid poaching that still happens as well. The conservation aspect is very important. But the problem is that in many of the locations where this kind of hunting happens, the right amount of money will allow you to do just about anything regardless of legality or conservation efforts. And lots of rich idiots take advantage of that.

Wow, just wow........:shake:

Douche alert.

Your parents should have set you out on the ice after you were born.

You're so ****ing stupid you burned your apartment down with a BBQ and then asked for your deposit back. You act like your opinion matters...

Older animals huh? you mean like a group of breeding females?

I guess the family could sue but the settlement would just be peanuts.

LMAO

This guy was not in it for conservation, he was in it only for the money.

Elephants have great memories. I'd be expecting a revenge hit soon.