« Fuel Milestone: Diesel Made From Corn Cheaper Than Diesel Made From Dinosaurs | Main | Cape Wind Forms Into Perfect Storm Of Bizarre Politics »

South Africa Kills Fine Sport Of Shooting Rhinos At Close Range (In Closed Pens)

 "Canned” always signals a welcome improvement – whether it’s canned meat, canned asparagus, or canned hunts. A canned hunt is one in which the prey is an animal raised in captivity and confined in a small area so the “hunter” can shoot it at close range. Usually with some trees around, for that authentic woodsy feel. Not quite as easy as firing a few rounds into a venison steak, but close. Canned hunts are popular in the states, for those hunters-on-the-go who just can’t wander around all day looking for prey, and because they’re fairly idiot-proof (unless you go shooting your partner in the face.)

But sadly, South Africa just passed a law that takes the best part out of going on a big game safari in the deepest jungles of Africa: the convenience. Canned hunts for wealthy tourists, or “tinned hunts” for wealthy British tourists, are a multi-million dollar industry in South Africa.

Prices paid ranged from $25 for pigeons and quail to $25,000 for a white rhinoceros. Breeders have used crossbreeding and genetic manipulation to make the potential trophies more appealing - by producing large numbers of albino lions, for instance.

When the new law was passed, breeders were working on their most appealing hunting trophy yet: animals with their heads pre-mounted on wooden plaques.

South Africa To End Canned Hunting (AP)

Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)

About

This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on May 5, 2006 7:20 PM.

The previous post in this blog was Fuel Milestone: Diesel Made From Corn Cheaper Than Diesel Made From Dinosaurs.

The next post in this blog is Cape Wind Forms Into Perfect Storm Of Bizarre Politics.

Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

Powered by
Movable Type 3.33