Big game hunter crushed to death

[Al Bundy]

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.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by Cornstock

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.

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

[RealSNR]

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

[Cornstock]

Originally Posted by RealSNR

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

Pun not overlooked

[In58men]

Originally Posted by frozenchief

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.

I'm glad he's dead

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Inmem58

Glad that piece of shit is dead.

Youre glad hes dead because he hunted??


What?

[BlackOp]

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.

[BlackOp]

Originally Posted by BWillie

Youre glad hes dead because he hunted??


What?

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

[ClevelandBronco]

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

[frozenchief]

Originally Posted by Inmem58

I'm glad he's dead

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.

[cdcox]

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.

[Kaepernick]

Originally Posted by Inmem58

Glad that piece of shit is dead.

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.

[Kaepernick]

Originally Posted by cdcox

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.

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.

[cdcox]

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.

[frozenchief]

Originally Posted by cdcox

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.

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.

[cdcox]

Originally Posted by Kaepernick

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.

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.