https://www.sapeople.com/wildl...unt-in-south-africa/



Breaking: Elephant shot 8 times during unlawful hunt in South Africa

How much suffering did this elephant go through? And at a time when interim interdict prohibits the trophy hunting of African elephants in South Africa…


By Jenni Baxter
11-09-23 09:38
in Animals

A male elephant has been killed in a “deeply distressing and tragic trophy hunt” at a local game reserve in the Limpopo province on 3 September 2023, according to Humane Society International (HSI).

“The elephant suffered through eight gunshots over an extended period of time before finally succumbing to his injuries,” HSI said in a statement. “This tragic episode contradicts the prevailing High Court interim interdict issued after a successful legal challenge brought by Humane Society International/Africa in 2022 against the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and others.”

The interdict explicitly prohibits the allocation of permits for trophy hunting of African elephants, leopard and black rhino in South Africa.

The elephant was killed at the Maseke Game Reserve, situated within the Balule Nature Reserve, by a hunting party consisting of a client, a hunting guide, a reserve representative and a backup rifleman.

According to a publicly released letter issued by Balule Nature Reserve, the client discharged the initial gunshot, wounding the elephant. The reserve representative and the hunting guide fired subsequent shots to bring the elephant down, however these efforts also proved ineffective.

Wounded elephant tried to escape

The injured elephant sought to escape into the neighbouring Grietjie Game Reserve, an ecotourism reserve, where trophy hunting is prohibited. The injured animal was followed on foot and a helicopter was called to the scene. The elephant was eventually located and was chased back into Maseke Game Reserve by the helicopter where he was finally killed by more gunfire. It is reported that approximately eight shots were discharged into the elephant before the harrowing ordeal was over.

Tony Gerrans, executive director for Humane Society International/Africa said, “We are horrified by this unnecessary tragedy. Given the High Court’s interdict prohibiting the permitting of elephant hunts, the letter’s conclusion that this hunt was lawful is incorrect. Furthermore, no animal should ever experience the pain and suffering that this elephant endured. The practice of trophy hunting is not only profoundly inhumane, but also poses a grave threat to our biodiversity and tarnishes South Africa’s global reputation as a sustainable and responsible tourist destination. To injure, chase and kill any animal in this way, is unacceptable.”

Balule Nature Reserve is a member of the Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR), a group of privately owned nature reserves bordering Kruger National Park. Animals can move freely across the borders of neighbouring reserves. Within the APNR there are some reserves that allow trophy hunting and others that do not, which means that protected animals from one reserve, or even the Kruger National Park, could possibly be killed by trophy hunters within another reserve.

“This incident once again demonstrates the inhumanity of hunting sentient animals merely for bragging rights and to display parts of their bodies as trophies on a wall. Too many endangered and threatened animals continue to suffer and die within so called ‘nature conservation reserves’ in what is best described as a blood sport,” Mr Gerrans continues. “HSI/Africa has challenged the way this horrifying activity is permitted by the government, and we call on all South African wildlife administrators to abide by the High Court order which prohibits the permitting of elephant, leopard and black rhino hunts until such time as the court can rule on the merits of the permitting process.”

Source: HSI statement

https://www.hsi.org/wp-content...3-September-2023.pdf


Link to Maseke hunting incident.

Tony Gerrans, executive director for Humane Society International/Africa, seems to value the life of an elephant over the thousands of lives of white farmers killed in SA. Truly a despicable entity and being possessing no humanity... hell has a place for him and his ilk...

Those people can Lie with the best I will reserve my opinion until the facts are investigated. as opposed to a rant..

So, pray tell, how many shots should have been fired?

Clueless criticism.

A poor first shot may be fairly criticized, I suppose.

But even that kind of thing is risky unless the critic was an eyewitness and saw and knows for facts all of the details.

Unless you were there and witnessed the whole thing, it is generally best, IMHO, to refrain from making any sort of judgment.

Of course, once an animal, especially a dangerous animal, has been wounded, the rules change.

No one can fairly criticize any and all shots fired after that until the animal has been put down and is dead.

Whether this particular hunt was legal is another question and I do not know the answer to that one.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.z...o-shoot-an-elephant/

Balule trophy hunt — how not to shoot an elephant


By Don Pinnock

12 Sep 2023

This is a story about an apparently illegal kill licence, a botched trophy hunt, the gratuitous pain and suffering of an elephant and the right to shoot iconic wild animals.


Hunting does not provide the precision kill of an abattoir, but what happened in Maseke Game Reserve on 3 September was beyond acceptable, even in hunting circles. Apart from a botched hunt, it may also have been illegal.

Maseke is within the Balule Nature Reserve, which, in turn, is in the Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR), an area to the west of Kruger National Park. There are no fences between Kruger and the APNR, so animals can and do move freely between the two.


A paying client took a shot at a bull elephant but merely wounded it. The professional hunter accompanying him then pumped four more bullets into the animal but also failed to bring it down.



The elephant took off towards the Grietjie section of the Balule reserve, a non-hunting area, pursued by the hunting party. They couldn’t keep up, so a helicopter was called in. By then the animal was in Grietjie and the chopper drove the wounded animal back into Maseke where it was shot and finally killed, its body by then carrying eight bullets.

This incident is not a hunting outlier. In 2018 in Maseke, a young elephant was shot 13 times — screaming in pain within view of traumatised guests at a lodge in Parsons Nature Reserve bordering Maseke. The professional hunter in charge, Sean Nielsen, claimed the elephant had been “shot in self-defence”. Nielsen is the hunting concessionaire for Maseke Game Reserve which is owned by the Maseke tribe.

According to Balule chairperson Sharon Haussmann, that hunt had the correct permits in place, but she said the incident “did not comply with the sustainable utilisation model of ethical hunting in accordance with the hunting protocol that governs all reserves within APNR and to which Balule and hence Maseke are bound.” That would also go for the latest hunt.

Was it legal?
There is a question regarding the legality of the permit for the Maseke hunt. According to the Humane Society International-Africa (HSI/Africa), the issuing of a hunting permit contradicts a high court interim interdict which prohibits the allocation of permits for trophy hunting of African elephants, leopards and black rhinos in South Africa.

It followed a successful legal challenge brought by HSI/Africa in 2022 against the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and others. Judge Patrick Gamble found that the Department of Environment had failed to comply with the consultative process prescribed by the National Environmental Management.

Pending a review, the minister was therefore not permitted to issue a quota for trophy hunting and export of elephant, black rhino or leopard without valid non-detriment findings. The review hearing is only scheduled for January 2024 so has not been held. Therefore, according to HSI/Africa’s executive director, Tony Gerrans, the prohibition on hunting of trophies still stands.



The hunt evidently sparked a “vigorous debate” on WhatsApp by Grietjie landowners furious about the incident, including about the helicopter chase on their land. In a letter to the landowners, Ian Nowak, the general manager of Balule, apologised, but said Maseke Reserve “conducted the hunt in accordance with the requirements and protocols”, that the hunt was legal and that no protocol violations were committed. Balule provides the overall administrative system for Maseke, with both situated within the APNR.

HSI/Africa rejected this assurance. Gerrans said, “We are horrified by this unnecessary tragedy. Given the high court’s interdict prohibiting the permitting of elephant hunts, the letter’s conclusion that this hunt was lawful is incorrect.

“Furthermore, no animal should ever experience the pain and suffering that this elephant endured. The practice of trophy hunting is not only profoundly inhumane but also poses a grave threat to our biodiversity and tarnishes South Africa’s global reputation as a sustainable and responsible tourist destination. To injure, chase and kill any animal in this way is unacceptable.”

Hunting in the APNR
The hunt, apart from its obvious cruelty, raises wider questions about hunting in the APNR. These reserves are unarguably prime or even core wildlife areas. And because there are no fences between the APNR and the Kruger Park, by “supporting” APNR annual offtake quotas as it does, Kruger is essentially giving permission to hunt animals which it’s obliged by law to protect — with permits being granted by the provincial authority.

Within the APNR, some reserves, such as parts of Balule, Klaserie, Timbavati and Umbabat, allow hunting and others do not. Animals can move freely across the borders of neighbouring reserves, which means that protected animals from one reserve or even the Kruger Park can be killed by trophy hunters within another reserve.



Each year the APNR is allocated quotas for the hunting of a range of animals. According to Nowak, it has permission to shoot 50 elephants annually. Of these, Balule is allocated 22 and Maseke, in turn, has a licence to hunt 12. He says the APNR quota “is to allow for better breeding opportunities for the average and above average bulls.” An elephant expert we contacted (who did not wish to be named) called that unscientific nonsense.

Questions have also been raised about general hunting offtakes in the APNR. In reply to a parliamentary request for these numbers for 2022/23 and 2023/24, Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said that SANParks was not at liberty to release them and that the request should be routed to the relevant provincial authorities. It is unclear why the minister should not wish to provide the information requested as it is certainly in the possession of her department and comprehensive replies have been provided to similar requests in previous years.

In 2021/22, SANParks supported the hunting of 4,449 animals (including 55 elephants, 64 buffaloes, 26 kudus, four warthogs, three hippos, nine hyenas, six giraffes and 4,265 impalas) in the APNR.

The proceeds
In 2019 (the only year for which financial figures could be obtained) hunting netted Balule estates alone R2.8-million, according to their financial statements. However, a desktop calculation using the SA Professional Hunters’ standard rates, estimates income attributable to the hunting of animals allocated to Balule to be R10.9-million. So who received the difference of R8-million?

On the same basis, hunting income for the entire APNR was estimated to be R29-million, of which R17-million was disclosed by the APNR representatives to the Parliamentary Environmental Affairs oversight committee as having been received. Of this, only 9% was declared as having been used for community outreach.

‘Trophy hunting’, specifically, is a form of hunting in which the hunter’s explicit goal is to obtain the hunted animal’s carcass or body part, such as the head or hide, as a trophy that represents the success of the hunt. (Image: ifaw / Wikipedia)

The wider question is about the hunting of rare and protected animals. According to Gerrans, the latest incident “once again demonstrates the inhumanity of hunting sentient animals merely for bragging rights and to display parts of their bodies as trophies on a wall. Too many endangered and threatened animals continue to suffer and die within so-called nature conservation reserves in what is best described as a blood sport.

“HSI/Africa has challenged the way this horrifying activity is permitted by the government, and we call on all South African wildlife administrators to abide by the high court order which prohibits the permitting of elephant, leopard and black rhino hunts until such time as the court can rule on the merits of the permitting process.”

With clients who can’t down an elephant and professional hunters who seemingly can’t provide the coup de grâce when the clients miss, this means that a miserable fate awaits another 11 elephants for which hunting permits have been issued in Maseke. DM

quote:

Originally posted by Kathi:
https://www.hsi.org/wp-content...3-September-2023.pdf


Link to Maseke hunting incident.

Thanks Kathi

END OF STORY

https://www.msn.com/en-za/news...ng-in-sa/ar-AA1gHLV3
Court battle continues over trophy hunting in SA
Story by Nicola Daniels •
2d


Humane Society International (HSI), in an ongoing court battle with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) over trophy hunting of certain wildlife species, said it was considering legalities around the recent killing of an elephant while an interim interdict was in place prohibiting the allocation of permits.


This after the organisation said a male elephant was killed in a trophy hunt at the Maseke Game Reserve, situated within the Balule Nature Reserve, bordering the Kruger National Park, in Limpopo on September 3.

The elephant was allegedly shot eight times before finally succumbing to his injuries.

HSI said in the ongoing court case, which seeks to challenge hunting and export quotas permitted by the government, Western Cape High Court Judge Patrick Gamble had in April last year noted that if interim relief was not granted, “the black rhino, elephant and leopard population may be irreversibly affected”.

“The decision of the first respondent on or about 31 January 2022 to allocate a hunting and export quota for elephant (Loxodonta africana), black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) and leopard (Panthera pardus), for the calendar year of 2022 is interdicted from being implemented or given effect to in any way,” he found.

On the recent incident, Humane Society International Africa executive director Tony Gerrans said: “We are horrified by this unnecessary tragedy.

This incident once again demonstrates the inhumanity of hunting sentient animals merely for bragging rights and to display parts of their bodies as trophies on a wall.

“Too many endangered and threatened animals continue to suffer and die within so-called nature conservation reserves in what is best described as a blood sport.

“HSI/Africa has challenged the way this horrifying activity is permitted by the government, and we call on all South African wildlife administrators to abide by the high court order which prohibits the permitting of elephant, leopard and black rhino hunts until such time as the court can rule on the merits of the permitting process.”

The DFFE referred the Cape Times to the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (Ledet).

“A permit to hunt one elephant bull was issued by the department to a local hunter.

“The court order is for the export of elephant trophies by a non-South African resident out of the country.

The elephant was hunted by a South African resident and therefore will not be exported out of SA.

“The hunting forms part of the management of the elephant population on the greater Balule.

“Nothing illegally (was) conducted and the hunt went according to the Balule protocol,” said Limpopo Ledet spokesperson Zaid Kalla.

Balule Nature Reserve did not respond to further requests for comment by deadline. The matter is set to return to court next year.