Trophy Hunter Gets Eaten by Crocodiles

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Trophy Hunter Gets Eaten by Crocodiles

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Trophy Hunter Gets Eaten by Crocodiles

Scott Van Zyl was the owner of SS Pro Safaris, a South African canned hunting facility that also organized trips to Africa so trophy hunters could kill magnificent animals and display them in their homes.

In a weird twist of fate, Van Zyl became the hunted earlier this month during a Zimbabwe safari. After he separated from a local tracker and approached the shore of the Limpopo River, he was eaten by crocodiles.

Unfortunately, three crocodiles had to die as well. The tracker had become concerned when Van Zyl’s dogs returned to the campsite without him. A few days later, searchers found Van Zyl’s footprints and backpack on the river bank, but divers and helicopter pilots were unable to find his body in the river.

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“Permission was given for three Nile crocodiles in the area to be shot, and one of them contained Mr. Van Zyl’s remains,” Sakkie Louwrens, director of the Heritage Protection Group (HPG), a South Africa-based nonprofit that investigates, fights and prevents violent crimes, told the BBC. “Subsequent DNA tests have proved the remains to be those of Mr. Van Zyl.”

An investigation is underway to determine exactly how Van Zyl died. At least four people have been killed in Zimbabwe by crocodiles in the past year. Due to the unusually heavy rainfall, crocodiles have been moving away from rising rivers.

“Our hearts go out to Scott’s wife and their two children,” said Phillip Bronkhorst, chairman of the Limpopo Hunters Forum. “Scott will be remembered for the passion he had for his profession and life in general.”

He may have had a passion for his profession, but it’s really difficult to understand how someone with a passion for life in general would have been willing to facilitate and profit from the killing of hundreds of animals.

“From elephants in Botswana to the smallest blue duiker in KwaZulu Natal, we do it all,” boasts the SS Pro Safaris website.

In a disgusting and graphic video — be warned that it’s really more like a snuff film — Van Zyl posted on YouTube in January 2016, various leopards are seen being shot to death on his “hunting preserve” – including one big cat as he innocently approaches his dinner.

Not surprisingly, a recent study by Humane Society International found that trophy hunting in Africa does very little to help local economies.

As for the Nile crocodiles Van Zyl had intended to kill, they are considered the most dangerous type of crocodile, with the strongest bite in the animal kingdom. But are they any scarier than humans who want to kill animals only for sport?

With Van Zyl now resting in peace, hopefully SS Pro Safaris will be shut down so more animals can continue to live in peace.

This article was first published by Care2.com on 27 Apr 2017.


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Karma Strikes Again: Trophy Hunter Killed by Elephant

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Trophy Hunter Killed by Elephant

Karma has really been a bitch to trophy hunters in Zimbabwe over the past couple of months. Early last month Scott Van Zyl, the owner of a South African trophy hunting operation, was eaten by the crocodiles he’d intended to kill.

On May 19, his friend Theunis Botha, the owner of another South African trophy-hunting company, was killed by an elephant at the Good Luck Farm, a canned hunting ranch near Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park.

The group Botha was leading on a hunting safari unwittingly wandered into a breeding herd of elephants, the Telegraph reports.

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When three elephant cows charged the hunters, Botha tried to shoot them. To stop him, a fourth elephant cow charged him from the side and lifted Botha with her trunk. One of the other trophy hunters fatally shot that elephant. She dropped Botha and collapsed on top of him, killing him.

Rest in peace, poor elephant.

Theunis Botha Big Game Safaris has been in business since the early 1980s. In 1991, Botha opened his first hunting ranch with his wife. At the time of his death, he owned private hunting ranches in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia.

“A passionate and professional hunting outfitter operation focused on giving his clients a unique exiting [sic] African safari experience,” says the Theunis Botha Big Game Safaris and Hounds website.

“Passionate?” Botha was famous among other trophy hunters for “Monteria hunts,” which are especially despicable. This cowardly method of “hunting” – which involves no actual hunting whatsoever — puts dogs in danger by using them as bait to chase animals toward the losers lying in wait to shoot them.

In Europe, Monteria hunts traditionally involve deer and boar. Botha, however, gained his fame using this egregious method to kill lions and leopards.

Just like his buddy Van Zyl, Botha posted disturbing and graphic videos on YouTube of these kills. One video you really don’t want to watch shows hunters shooting elephants, crocodiles and other creatures and then, with big ol’ smiles on their faces, standing beside their kills. Botha is seen holding up huge elephant tusks and grinning beside a dead elephant.

While elephants apparently weren’t worth much more than their tusks to Botha, unlike him and his clients, these magnificent creatures have the capability to be compassionate.

“Research on elephants is full of examples of the animals apparently behaving empathetically — recognizing and responding to another elephant’s pain or problem,” notes National Geographic. “Often, they even make heroic efforts to assist one another.”

That’s exactly what that elephant cow was doing when she was killed trying to saving the lives of others in her herd. At least her death wasn’t completely in vain. She permanently saved her herd and other wildlife from someone who profited and took pleasure fromkilling innocent animals.

It’s highly unlikely, but wouldn’t it be great if, spooked by the deaths of Van Zyl and Botha, other trophy hunters decide not to take any chances and take up a humane hobby instead? Karma can actually be a very beautiful thing.

This article was first published by Care2.com on 25 May 2017.


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Re: Trophy Hunter Gets Eaten by Crocodiles

Post by okie »

“Scott will be remembered for the passion he had for his profession and life in general.”

How can you be passionate about life when you when you are passionate about killing 0*\


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Re: Trophy Hunter Gets Eaten by Crocodiles

Post by Richprins »

I'm passionate about eating dead animals? -O-


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Re: Trophy Hunter Gets Eaten by Crocodiles

Post by okie »

Hmmm.... so am I \O

And my dog too =O: =O:

But so are the crocodiles --- but they are hungry :O^


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