Cecil hunter Walter Palmer 'wanted to kill an elephant after killing the lion'

[seafan]

85. In a word, survival. And one more: corruption.

From the article in the Telegraph:


Professional Zimbabwean hunter Theo Bronkhorst leaving the Magistrate's Court in Hwange (AFP)

Mr Bronkhorst started his hunting business after being violently evicted from his 1,269-hectare game farm, Southcum, near Kwekwe, in central Zimbabwe, as part of the Mugabe government’s land grab.

“I don’t want to shoot any animals. I do it because it is the only way I can earn a living,” said Mr Bronkhorst, who is married with two grown-up sons.

“I am a farmer. But I lost my farm in 2000 and I am forced to hunt, but have only done so five times in the last year. I like to lead a quiet life. I like breeding game, and am presently trying to increase the number of sable in Zimbabwe, which I am importing from Zambia.”

This tragic story of Cecil has coalesced the many threads of corruption that are interwoven between the African continent and wealthy Western oligarchs. The stories of perpetual poverty; injustice; land theft; resource theft; habitat destruction; farmland confiscation; massive land-clearing for large-scale farms to raise beef for Western appetites; slave labor in mineral mines; toxic waste dumping into waterways; hunting of prized and rare animals; illegal trade in animal flesh and bone; bribery of government officials... it is an ongoing travesty. And people in high positions of power look the other way.

Until the world's conscience puts a stop to the oligarchs who are stealing from us in every corner of the world, it will continue unabated.


And it feels as if the world's people are ready to make that step.