Elephant stomps on a poacher who tried to shoot him

[madokie]

A few weeks ago, Noluck Tafuruka was arrested by police in Zimbabwe for possessing a rifle without a license. But he’s doing better than his partner, Solomon Manjoro. The two men allegedly snuck into Zimbabwe’s Charara National Park with the intention of bagging some valuable wild animals.

But one elephant that they tried to take down had had it up to here with poachers — and when you’re an elephant, “up to here” is pretty high. The elephant charged Manjoro and trampled him.

In recent years, poaching of elephants and rhinos in wildlife reserves in Africa has spiked dramatically, fueled largely by demand for their prized tusks and horns. Meanwhile, both conservationists and wildlife officers have struggled to protect these animals from hunters, a daunting task given the vast areas to be protected and the stealthiness of poachers who often enter the parks under cover of darkness.

Given the lack of human protection, the elephants are doing it for themselves.

http://grist.org/list/elephant-stomps-on-a-poacher-who-tried-to-shoot-him/

[Scootaloo]

1. The guy who got trampled is named "Noluck?"

Well... can't say you didn't see it coming, dude

[Bonobo]

2. No, it was his partner that got trampled.

Consequently he is changing his last name from "Noluck" to "Luckyfuck".

[Historic NY]

5. Meanwhile the other guys' name is Sh-t out of Luck...

elephants never forget.

[Mr Dixon]

20. RODFL

[dipsydoodle]

3. Good

'nuff said.

[LostOne4Ever]

4. Finally!

A Republican I like

[xchrom]

6. Excellent. Nt

[LeftofObama]

7. Good!

[reformist2]

8. One day the rest of the animal kingdom will stage a worldwide coup against humans.

It might be a change for the better!

[demwing]

14. Four legs good, two legs bad

The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which...

[jtuck004]

9. "Each man's death diminishes me..." someone wrote

But I think some diminish us less than others.

[idwiyo]

10. K&R Good for the elephant!

[dorkzilla]

11. Go Elephant!!!!

I know you couldn't really do this, but wouldn't it be wonderful if the wildlife officers could teach elephants self-defense (okay, stop-defense). If a couple more of these poachers got the same treatment, this could stop poaching!

[liberal N proud]

12. Call it Karma, Call it Revenge - either way it was sweet

You reap what you sow.

[Omaha Steve]

13. I agree

Let's go with Karma.

[truebluegreen]

15. Good.

[tiny elvis]

16. i want to introduce that elephant to the ivory buyers

poachers are desperate fools
why is there a spike in all big game poaching?

[madokie]

17. I'd say because Ivory is worth so much

to the rich assholes in this world, you and I not so much. Besides we're my bet is we're neither rich nor an asshole

[Eleanors38]

52. Another reason is the cut back/banning of regulated hunting

which, among other things, eliminates experienced outdoors people from the field who could report poachers. Poachers are powerful & well-funded, and they don't want regulated hunters in "their territory" and quite possibly neither do some governments.

That said, good on the elephant.

[Paladin]

18. Good. (nt)

[magical thyme]

19. Well done! Now go forth and teach this to your fellow elephants

Squash enough poachers, and you may drive them to oblivion.

[Silent3]

21. The only way to stop a bad man with a gun... is a good elephant with tusks and large feet. n/t

[madokie]

22. LOL

[City Lights]

23. Haha, my first smile of the day!

Thanks for the info!

[darkangel218]

24. Good for the elephant x

I hope the poacher got stomped hard and good, I hope he got flattened!!

[RebelOne]

25. Good for the elephant.

I do not like hunting of any kind, and I despise poachers.

[deaniac21]

41. Easter egg hunts can be fun for children

[ChazII]

26. Three cheers for the elephant. n/t

[Politicalboi]

27. I thought some were using drones

To find poachers. Finally a good cause for drones. As long as they aren't used to find animals to poach.
Too bad there aren't more stories like this. I have NO sympathy for ANY hunter.

[Spirochete]

28. Was it Ted Nugent?

No? Shit. oh, well - maybe next time...

[Aristus]

29. Sayonara, asshole.

Guess he won't do that again...

And God-damn anyone who buys ivory products, or rhino-horn remedies! To hell with all of you, with your idiotic fetish for keratinized protein and your insistance that it cures diseases! Get with the 21st Century, and stop contributing to the extinction of creatures much more valuable than your worthless selves...

[Bay Boy]

51. But I need rhino horn to get an erection...

...there aren't any other options available out there.

[stevenleser]

30. Wasn't in Africa for 16 hours before realizing elephants are the true king of the jungle

The reaction from lions to approaching elephants is priceless. They get up and out of the way VERY fast. Think the reaction of your average housecat to a horse.

I also learned the difference between African and Asian elephants. The Asian ones can be tamed and ridden. The African ones will kill you. Perhaps they can be tamed, but it definitely did not seem so.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

31. I'm sorry to hear that. Poaching should not be a capital offence.

I would far rather that he had killed the elephant than vice versa.

[stuntcat]

36. but the man didn't die

he was stepped on by one of the many many animals whose species will be wiped out by humans in the next few decades.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

37. The link says he was trampled to death. N.T.

[stuntcat]

39. ohh yeah

I see that link now.

With all the many thousands of animals species humans will be wiping out the next few decades (as humans' population reaches 9,000,000,000) I had a difficult time calling this trampling by a threatened animal "capital punishment".

But we'll get them back, don't worry! We'll erase this elephant's whole species!

[HangOnKids]

46. Sorry for you the elephant was smarter and better than that jerk

Boo hoo for you.

[arely staircase]

47. i won't celebrate this man's death but I am glad the elephant survived his attempt to kill her

if that was the only way so be it. surely this man knew the risks of his vile vocation.

[Incitatus]

53. I'm not.

He knew the risks. I'm not saying it should be a capital offense, but I don't have an iota of sympathy for the poacher.

[RedCappedBandit]

54. I wouldn't.

Agree that it should not be a capital offense. But every elephant is precious.

I feel bad for the man who needs to poach to survive. I loathe the people who create such a demand, though.

[Schema Thing]

57. Why?

Poaching of endangered species is unacceptable. Once they are gone, they are gone. It's worth killing humans to prevent the elimination of animal species. We'll make more.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

60. Words fail me. N.T.

[treestar]

62. Agreed.

There seems to be a great deal of misanthropy in this thread.

[MotherPetrie]

32. K&R Team Elephant

[meow2u3]

33. Elephant 1, poacher 0

Let's fight for the right to arm elephants, provided they're on 4 legs.

[hunter]

45. Maybe I can design a weapon that elephants can use.

Great kickstarter project, and a potential charity. Arm the elephants!

Next, the whales...

Sonar detects whaling ship at 31.7 degrees, arm torpedo, FIRE!

[stevenleser]

34. Pic of an elephant in Kenya just as it started charging the tour bus I was in

To say that you immediately experience a complete fear response from one of these immense creatures starting to charge you is an understatement.

[Bryn]

48. What a beautiful picture of elephant and her baby

They're magnificent!

[stevenleser]

50. That's what we on the bus thought too until...

She made it clear she did not appreciate our presence way we did hers!

[CrawlingChaos]

35. Good! I just wish it could have been those scumbag Trump sons

The image of those morons holding their murder trophies still haunts me.

[Nine]

38. A lot of Schadenfreude here, but that's nothing new for DU.

Poaching is wrong but I doubt these poachers are at the top of the economic ladder. I don't know much about the economy of Zimbabwe but the poachers are probably facing some hardships if they're the ones doing the dirty and dangerous "work" here. I have more condemnation for the leaders of the poaching ring and the buyers who are creating demand for it. And also, crazy notion, I simply don't take much pleasure in someone else's violent death.

[Blue_Tires]

40. Send the elephants and rhinos to China and organize a stampede

since that country's underground markets are the biggest motivation for poachers...

[MFM008]

42. This should be on YouTube

for all of us to enjoy.

for elephants.

[Celldweller]

43. would it be mean to giggle, just a little? nt

[madokie]

44. I laughed our loud

If you are in trouble then I'm in deep shit

[AtomicKitten]

49. Karmic justice.

[RedCappedBandit]

55. Too bad the purchasers of ivory are so far removed from the danger.

[shanti]

56. Yeah!

Go elephants!

[Brigid]

58. Every once in a great while,

The cosmic tumblers turn, and there is just a tiny bit of justice in the universe.

[Blue Owl]

59. Good riddance...

I won't be shedding any tears.

[burrowowl]

61. Good 0n the Elephant!