Zimbabwe Expert: The Truth About Killing 'Problem' Elephants
AOL News — Apr. 1, 2011
by Dana Kennedy Contributor
Zimbabwe’s premier conservationist, a 62-year-old man who says he’s endured assassination attempts for trying to preserve wildlife in one of Africa’s poorest and most repressive countries, can’t watch the video showing Bob Parsons, the billionaire CEO of GoDaddy.com, shooting and killing an elephant.
“I’ve seen so many of the atrocities against elephants and other wildlife here that it sickens me to the bottom of my soul,” Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, told AOL News today on the telephone from Harare.
“But I have read what Parsons said, and he is totally misinformed about what is going on here. I wish he knew the truth.”
Parsons, whose video sparked outrage when it circulated Thursday, is shown shooting a bull elephant on a recent hunting trip in Zimbabwe and then posing triumphantly next to the carcass. He called the animal a “problem elephant” that was in a herd attacking local crops and houses.
Some villagers, sporting GoDaddy caps, are also shown in the video carving up the dead elephant and eating the meat, as AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells” plays on the soundtrack.
Parsons brushed off criticism in interviews and said that only a few animal rights groups like PETA were upset.
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2 Comments
On April 10, 2011, dave wrote:
i saw that video, what an idiot,worst thing was he did it as a publicity stunt, had the natives wear his logo on baseball caps,and then gave the most lame excuse for killing that elephant, to save crops, i guess he thinks the rest of the world is as stupid as he is, and just as gullible. what a halfwit,you wonder how people this stupid actually live.what would be funny if some hackers, hacked his sight go whimp.com, not go daddy .com and replaced the picture with a donkey and this nitwit’s picture sticking out of the donkeys butt, that’s what we call truth in advertising. he does not need to be educated,because he is to stupid to learn,idiots like this need to be prosecuted. he has no legitimate excuse for what he did. i might have enjoyed the video if a pack of lions came in and ripped this idiot apart.that would have made everybody happy, even his parents.dont mean to be harsh,but i cant stand sissy little wimps like this, he deserves to be smacked from one side of the earth to the other.
On April 11, 2011, dave wrote:
i have done some research and i think there is a way to get some justice for this elephant.maybe FOA or one of your bloggers can help, the US is part of the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora ( CITES) for short, this is part of the endangered species act. now its common knowledge parsons is a idiot, he thinks he is above the law, i will bet money on it that he tries to bring back the ivory from the elephant he killed, import of ivory to the U.S. is illegal under this act, the thing is he will have to get it through customs, the department of agriculture handles this, with his big ego he is going to try to get around this act and gloat about his kill to his friends, between the video and the ivory there should be enough to prosecute him. Anybody who knows how this system works, parsons the bonehead can have his day in court. i am sure the jury will enjoy his video when determining his sentence. if you know how to make this work, please step up, people have to learn this type of behavior is unacceptable, thanks