Poaching

[Guest guest]

>It is time we discussed and analyzed where exactly we lack !!!

 

Most certainly.

 

 

>Indeed, Salman Khan`s actions have always spoken better than words.

 

Yes. Here we have a fellow who for years got away with

poaching of the most flagrant and least defensible sort, not for

food, nor to feed his family, but merely for the thrill of blasting

the life out of other beings.

 

After getting caught, and prosecuted, through the

extraordinary actions of thousands of Bishnoi who pressured the

authorities to bring him to justice, this gent spent eight years

defying & thwarting justice in every manner that he could pay lawyers

to perform.

 

We now have the spectacle of certain people who seem to lack

either the memory or the wisdom of the elephants they purport to

defend, rushing to embrace a poacher of notoriety trailing only that

of Sansar Chand and the late Veerappan, while trashing Christine

Townend, who has dedicated her entire life to animal rights &

welfare.

 

What is the difference in their perspective on elephants,

the issue at hand?

 

Christine Townend works to provide hands-on care to

elephants, among other species. She believes a bit of elephant polo

on grass is a nice break from standing or working on hot cement.

 

Salman Khan's one known claim to activism on behalf of

elephants was posing for a World Wildlife Fund calendar, at the very

same time that the World Wildlife Fund was endorsing culling

elephants in Kruger National Park, South Africa.

 

Further to lacking perspective--

 

 

>Some good news folks !!

>Two poachers have been killed near Kaziranga National Park in Assam this

>morning.

 

I wouldn't consider that good news, even if I had killed the

poachers myself while they were pointing their guns at me, & yes, I

did have poachers point guns at me a couple of times when I was doing

anti-poaching work in Quebec. (I photographed one in the act, &

informed the other two that they could either put their guns down or

carry them out of the woods in a most awkward and uncomfortable

manner.)

 

It is always bad news to have to resort to violence, even

when there are no alternatives. It is bad news that there are

poachers in the vicinity of Kaziranga National Park. It is bad news

that there are poachers at all.

 

It is also bad news, especially bad news, that people who

purport to be animal defenders rejoice in this type of killing.

Perhaps it was necessary, but even in necessity, it was no cause

for rejoicing.

 

Every poacher who is killed has family & friends, who may

avenge him, or turn to poaching themselves, if not engaged in it

already, to make up for the lost family income.

 

Shooting poachers to protect elephants turned out to be very

bad & self-defeating policy in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe more

than 20 years ago, with the ultimate effect in each nation of

encouraging the poachers to arm ever more heavily, and make renewed

efforts to infiltrate, bribe, and suborn the anti-poaching forces.

 

In Kenya, the major poaching factions aligned themselves

with the same Somali militias as al Qaida and Hamas. In Zimbabwe,

trying to distinguish the poachers from the Robert Mugabe government

is now no easy task.

 

Respect for animal life includes respect for human life.

Humans may be exceptionally dangerous great apes, but we are great

apes nonetheless, and exulting in harm done to each other differs not

at all in principle from exulting vicariously in the killings of a

Salman Khan.

 

Which does raise the question, what if the Bishoi had killed

Salman Khan instead of bringing him to trial?

 

Would those now simultaneously praising Salman Khan and

praising killing poachers have exulted at that?

 

If so, why would a man allegedly worthy of hanging nine

years ago now be deemed worthy of praise, after eight years evading

justice?

 

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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