By A Country Grimace – 4

fred hatman SA-positive antelope, bontebok, buffalo, By A Country Smile, douchebag, Fred Hatman, hunting, hunting must be banned, Le Vaillant, ostriches, Overberg, SA-positive, south Dakota taxidermist, Stanford, wildlife, zebra 1 Comment

I’ve given you three blogposts already today and I’m knackered. But I’d like to leave you with this thought to take to bed with you…

“The bontebocks, above all appeared in flocks of two thousand at least. I am persuaded that this day, buffaloes, antelopes of all kinds, zebras and ostriches, I had before my eyes at one time more than four or five thousand animals.” – Le Vaillant, the Overberg (1796)

I live in the Overberg. Two hundred and fourteen years later, where and how far do I go to witness such a thing?

And, in 214 years’ time, what real chance do the future inhabitants of Africa, never mind the Overberg, have of seeing just one of these, alive and running free in the wild?

* So I Google “bontebok photo” to bring you a pic… and I find this…

A dead bontebok. Shot. By a hunter. American. Very pleased with his work.

Ain’t that pretty? This photograph was first published on a South Dakota taxidermy website. With this caption…

“Bontebok was the easiest shot of the whole Safari. After a unsuccessful stalk and sitting in an open field, the Bontebok along with another herd bull came walking out of a draw right towards me. At 40 yards they stopped and I harvested the largest of the two. SCI Gold and Rowland Ward by 1 1/2 inches. Overall 43 0/8.”

“Harvested”? Harvested! What is that? Hunterspeak for “killed”. Can’t hunters say “killed”? Or “murdered”?

I feel very tired. And very angry. I’m going to bed. Here’s the website of that – how do the Americans say? – douchebag who kills Africa’s wildlife… American hunter/douchebag\’s website.

Direct your enquiries towards him. FFS.