Trophy Hunter killed in “execution style”
As per recent local news reports, an avid wildlife trophy hunter, Riann Naude, was found dead next to his vehicle in Limpopo, the northernmost province of South Africa.
Although the police stated that “the motive for the attack and the subsequent murder is unknown at this stage,” it is confirmed that 55-year-old hunter was shot and killed by two men who pulled up beside him when his car broke down, in what the publication referred to as an “execution- style murder.’
Naude was notorious in South Africa for his hunting activities. He founded and owned Pro Hunt Africa, a company that organises paid hunting expeditions. Naude routinely posted photos of himself and his hunted animals on social media. These pictures captured him smiling with dead elephants, giraffes, lions, and some other African animals. He also posted pictures of his clients posing with the animal bones they had caught and killed.
Even though he faced a lot of criticism, with animal lovers calling him “monstrous” and “unacceptable”, his work continued as it is legal in South Africa to hunt, even the much endangered species.
The Trophy Hunting Industry
In fact, 1.2 million animals have been killed by people in the name of trophy hunting. That breaks down to about 70,000 animals each year.
But what is trophy hunting and why do people trophy hunt? Well, trophy hunting is merely a wild game for human recreation. The trophy is the animal or part of the animal kept, and usually displayed, to represent the success of the hunt. It is a cold blooded act that destroys the precious wildlife and their ecosystems.
Generally, only parts of the animal are kept as a trophies, which are usually the head, skin, horns or antlers. The carcass itself is used for food, given to the local community, or just tossed away.
As of now, South Africa has the largest trophy hunting industry worldwide It is the second most popular source of American trophy imports. The industry is worth about US$341 million in the country. From 2014 to 2018, South Africa exported 1,337 African elephant trophies to the US, Russia, France, Spain etc. In the same period of time, an enormous number of 4176 lion trophies have been exported different countries as well.
Some Shocking Facts about the Industry
The most coveted animals to kill are the African Big Five: lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and Cape buffalos. All of them are either already or nearly critically endangered.
Trophy hunters have killed over 78,000 mountain lions in the last two decades.
3. A 21-day lion hunt can cost anywhere from $52,500 to $70,000.
What can you do to help these animals from being poached or hunted?
You can help us by supporting our Rangers Insurance Programmes. For those who do not know rangers are the front-line protection for the African wildlife against poaching and trafficking. Their jobs are extremely dangerous and they face life-threatening encounters everyday while protecting the nature for us. There are currently 40,000 rangers, yet only 1,600 are insured.
Many forget that these rangers, though brave, are individuals with friends, families, and a community they belong to. Their death not only brings deep emotional distress, but also financial burdens to their families.
With your help, their families have something to fall back upon should something go wrong. If you are willing to contribute, please click here.
Alternatively, to support our foundation by helping us sustain our work, you can become a member of the Friends of The Elephant Foundation. This platform is crucial to the future of our foundation and is essential to the future of wildlife conservation. One can donate to us by a one-off donation or a monthly subscription. For more information, please click here.
Last but not least, we would like say that donors names will be mentioned in our newsletters in honour of their love for nature, their love for animals, and their philanthropic spirit.
Sources:
https://nypost.com/2022/07/04/riaan-naude-trophy-hunter-who-killed-lions-elephants-shot-dead/
https://www.hsi.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/HSI-Africa-Trophy-Hunting-Report-05-2021.pdf
https://greenstories.co.in/killing-animals-as-trophy-shocking-facts-about-trophy-hunting/