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- Feb 26, 2015
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- Hunted
- RSA, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Cameroon, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Austria, Australia, TX, NM
Summer 2015 was a disaster for sport hunting. Dr. Walter Palmer hunted lion in Zimbabwe near Hwange National Park. His hunt was deemed legal but the media firestorm of the killing of a named, collared lion was never to end. As I have traveled I learned that this collaring, naming, and waiting for a hunter to take as a trophy was a long term plan by the radical animal rights groups. A trap set years ago and finally perfected in the summer of 2015. I met a highly experienced PH named Fred in Namibia in 2015 and he told a story of how he had been set up by Flip Saunders of the Desert Lion Project in just such a way. The story was related to me as follows: a lion hunting client arrives and Saunders is contacted to see if he had a lead on a preferred old solitary male lion that would be the best to take. He had indicated some time previously that he did have such a lion located and would gladly pass on the information. Keep in mind that Saunders is a greasy environmentalist that does nothing all day but sit and watch lions and think that they belong to him. Now that the hunt is on he will not return phone calls from Fred. As they hunted and found a mature solitary lion they took him not knowing he had a tracking collar. Saunders tried to create a media buzz about this “special” lion being taken. Much trouble ensued for Fred and he was accused of all kinds of wrongdoing. Fred is an old school PH and would never pursue any hunt of any kind if it was not 100% legal. Like most controversies it finally blew over and he had done nothing wrong.
A similar story involves an elephant and Martin Pieters. Steve Edwards is a former manager of National Parks in Zimbabwe, operates a photo tourism business, and is an ardent anti-hunter. Edwards took a team and illegally placed a collar on a big bull elephant and did not inform any of the surrounding hunting outfitters. They just darted an elephant and put a collar on it without anyones permission and had no authority to do so. And of course they named him. The Musango Bull they called him. Pieters had a client with him and they hunted this big elephant who to their surprise had the collar placed on him. Pieters stated he had no idea any elephants had been collared in this area since the 1980’s and in fact they hadn’t. Here again the animal rights activist Edwards puts the elephant story out to the media to destroy Pieters reputation. All sorts of allegations were made and certainly much fundraising by the anti-hunting crowd. Of course it was a perfectly legal and legitimate hunt. On my 2016 safari I had a run in with Edwards while hunting with Martin Pieters for crocodile. Steve Edwards phoned National Parks and stated we were poaching and an investigation must be undertaken. As we set up a blind and bait for a big Zambezi croc here comes Edwards in his boat with his son and long lens camera in hand. As I stay behind Pieters, the trackers, game scout, and National Parks game scout approach him. Edwards ardently states that we are not allowed to hunt in this area and that he believes that crocodiles should not be on quota for hunting. At this point I had to walk over there and see for myself what this nonsense was about. As I approach Edwards states that Pieters is engaging in an illegal hunt and that I am an unethical hunter. Being in a foreign country I bite my tongue and go sit on a rock to watch this soap opera unfold. A big to-do occurs when pictures were taken of the parks officer who is in uniform and it is illegal to do so. Later that day Pieters makes contact with the local council and National Parks and of course the animal rights wacko Edwards was wrong and was just trying any way he can to stop our hunt or have us in some sort of trouble. We get the go ahead from all authorities and proceed with the croc hunt. What I learned from this process is how well Martin Pieters works with his local council and the National Parks personnel. Irregardless of what you hear of Zim being in shambles, these people who run the council and parks are extremely intelligent and very well organized. I had the pleasure of meeting many of them (I was there over three weeks) and found them to be absolutely great people. I often wish we had people as thoughtful and intelligent in our government as I found in the middle of no where in the Zambezi Valley!
I am sure I am not telling you anything you don’t already know but keep an eye out for what our enemies are doing. They now have trail cameras streaming online to fundraise for specific collared animals. The next event that they will exploit is just around the corner. Now we just have to be smart enough and effective enough to counter them.
Philip Glass
A similar story involves an elephant and Martin Pieters. Steve Edwards is a former manager of National Parks in Zimbabwe, operates a photo tourism business, and is an ardent anti-hunter. Edwards took a team and illegally placed a collar on a big bull elephant and did not inform any of the surrounding hunting outfitters. They just darted an elephant and put a collar on it without anyones permission and had no authority to do so. And of course they named him. The Musango Bull they called him. Pieters had a client with him and they hunted this big elephant who to their surprise had the collar placed on him. Pieters stated he had no idea any elephants had been collared in this area since the 1980’s and in fact they hadn’t. Here again the animal rights activist Edwards puts the elephant story out to the media to destroy Pieters reputation. All sorts of allegations were made and certainly much fundraising by the anti-hunting crowd. Of course it was a perfectly legal and legitimate hunt. On my 2016 safari I had a run in with Edwards while hunting with Martin Pieters for crocodile. Steve Edwards phoned National Parks and stated we were poaching and an investigation must be undertaken. As we set up a blind and bait for a big Zambezi croc here comes Edwards in his boat with his son and long lens camera in hand. As I stay behind Pieters, the trackers, game scout, and National Parks game scout approach him. Edwards ardently states that we are not allowed to hunt in this area and that he believes that crocodiles should not be on quota for hunting. At this point I had to walk over there and see for myself what this nonsense was about. As I approach Edwards states that Pieters is engaging in an illegal hunt and that I am an unethical hunter. Being in a foreign country I bite my tongue and go sit on a rock to watch this soap opera unfold. A big to-do occurs when pictures were taken of the parks officer who is in uniform and it is illegal to do so. Later that day Pieters makes contact with the local council and National Parks and of course the animal rights wacko Edwards was wrong and was just trying any way he can to stop our hunt or have us in some sort of trouble. We get the go ahead from all authorities and proceed with the croc hunt. What I learned from this process is how well Martin Pieters works with his local council and the National Parks personnel. Irregardless of what you hear of Zim being in shambles, these people who run the council and parks are extremely intelligent and very well organized. I had the pleasure of meeting many of them (I was there over three weeks) and found them to be absolutely great people. I often wish we had people as thoughtful and intelligent in our government as I found in the middle of no where in the Zambezi Valley!
I am sure I am not telling you anything you don’t already know but keep an eye out for what our enemies are doing. They now have trail cameras streaming online to fundraise for specific collared animals. The next event that they will exploit is just around the corner. Now we just have to be smart enough and effective enough to counter them.
Philip Glass
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