GoDaddy CEO Hunts "Problem Elephants"

[Raphaeline]

GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons visits Zimbabwe each year to hunt so-called “problem elephants.” “It’s one of the most beneficial and rewarding things I do,” he writes.

Not surprisingly, some people have a problem with Parsons’ “philanthropy,” and they’ve taken to Twitter, Facebook, and every other opinion-voicing medium to express their disapproval and disgust. “What the f*ck is wrong with you?,” filmmaker Eli Roth tweeted. “It’s sick f*cks like you that make me think Hostel could really happen.”

Others have taken more direct action: PETA named Parsons’ the Scummiest CEO of the Year, while rival domain registrar Namecheap announced a special reduced transfer fee of $4.99, with a $1 from each transfer to be donated to Save The Elephants.

Defending himself against accusations of heartlessness, Parsons wrote, “I have the support of the people who really matter in this situation, the families of Zimbabwe — people who need help to survive.” However, while “problem elephants” are a real thing, Time’s Ecocentric blog points out that shooting them is an extreme last-resort after non-lethal solutions like “chili and tobacco-based deterrents” have failed.

Also, “white man’s burden” is rarely, if ever, a valid excuse for an annual hunting vacation.

Found at : http://thedailywhat.tumblr.com/post/...ay-godaddy-ceo


The article also included a link to delete your GoDaddy account.

[thalassa]

Re: GoDaddy CEO Hunts "Problem Elephants"

I'm in the middle of conservation biology right now actually...and having spent a great deal of time on conservation issues dealing with large mammals...well...its a heck of a lot more complicated than *zomg he's killing the elephants*

The simple fact of it is that as black and white as people would like for this to be...people live there, and some of those people happen to be killed by elephants every year, and communities in those areas are expanding, and much of that area happens to be poor. The extremely high price that wealthy westerners pay to hunt an elephant--and other big game (and those numbers are very controlled, and are *generally* "rogue" males that are not part of the herds) goes to the governments (and often to environmental protection and/or to the communities in the area), contributes to industry and jobs by way of tourism), and often the meat also goes to the village where the animal is killed.

While I can't speak for this particular case, the studies that we have looked at generally find that habitat loss and illegal poaching (vs regulated trophy hunts) are the reason for declining elephant populations and a regulated trophy hunt likely has little negative affect on elephant populations as a whole.

Evidence on illegal hunting indicates that poachers target individuals with the largest tusks, including
many matriarchs (1). In contrast, trophy hunting, besides being regulated and limited by quota to
relatively few animals per year, primarily targets large bulls (2, 3). Bulls are far more solitary than
females (4), so their role as repositories of social knowledge, although untested, is likely to be less
important than that of matriarchs. Although the removal of significant numbers of older bulls from a
population may have other detrimental results (1), the effect of regulated, low off-take trophy hunting on
group social knowledge is likely to be minimal when compared with poaching.

More importantly, a well-regulated trophy hunting system can help maintain elephant numbers while
raising revenues to fund elephant conservation programs and benefit local communities, who share 80%
of the species' range. Given that habitat loss contributes significantly to elephant decline (5), it is essential
to encourage coexistence between elephants and local communities outside protected areas. Without
intervention, however, elephants are generally unpopular because they may damage crops or threaten the
lives of people (3). Furthermore, compensation schemes for those adversely affected have largely failed
(6), and tourism benefit-sharing schemes are limited to more accessible areas with relatively developed
infrastructure and do not provide a focussed benefit from elephants. Consequently, many communities
and wildlife authorities have resorted to the destruction of problem animals. Indeed, in Kenya, where
there is no trophy hunting, figures from 1992 to 1999 show that similar numbers of elephants were killed
by poachers as were shot by Problem Animal Control units (412 compared with 428, respectively) (7).

In other countries, however, trophy hunting provides a means of turning a problem into assets worth more
than $10,000 per elephant trophy to the community, resulting in greater tolerance of elephants and fewer
animals killed overall (4). In Zimbabwe, implementing trophy hunting has doubled the area of the country
under wildlife management relative to the 13% in state protected areas (3). As a result, the area of suitable
land available to elephants and other wildlife has increased, reversing the problem of habitat loss and helping
to maintain a sustained population increase in Zimbabwe's already large elephant population (8).

http://www.kent.ac.uk/dice/publicati...ephants_01.pdf

[Medusa]

Re: GoDaddy CEO Hunts "Problem Elephants"

Here is a link to the video he made. It also states the villagers were happy he stopped the elephant from killing their crops. And they did indeed eat the elephant later the next day. CLICK ME

[Ophidia]

Re: GoDaddy CEO Hunts "Problem Elephants"

The other part of the equation is that grown, relatively healthy elephants are kind of like a polar bear in that respect - opportunistic feeders with no natural predators. Except us. Because elephants are intelligent, they know an easy food source when they see it, they do show other elephants their tricks to getting to man-provided food, and they can and do become a danger to people and a drain on already meager food supplies.

I think the CEO in question has no tact (not to mention being tacky) in announcing that he does this 'community service', but eh, there's not much you can do about publicity whores.

[Tree Beard]

Re: GoDaddy CEO Hunts "Problem Elephants"

Godaddy dude was always a sleezeball. Without this new info.

I support Wildlife Conservative organisations like WWF.... I never endorse anything PETA says or does. Lots of better focused groups to support.

Regardless on whether there is a need for a 'cull' like this, I'm sure he gets a thrill from it.

[Roknrol]

Re: GoDaddy CEO Hunts "Problem Elephants"

Who gives a shit if he gets a thrill? IMO that's a completely irrelevant point.

I do computer work for a living. It's my job and I get paid for it. Does that mean that I'm not allowed to get a "thrill" from some of the work that I do? Of course not.

If what he did was legal, then I don't see what the problem is. If he broke the law then he needs to be held accountable. If people have problems with the way the laws are written, they need to act to change them rather than attacking someone who's well within his rights.

You want to pull your GoDaddy account because he did what needed to be done (even if he enjoyed it)? Go right on ahead...I'm absolutely certain that that will be effective <eyeroll>

[Tree Beard]

Re: GoDaddy CEO Hunts &quot;Problem Elephants&quot;

Who gives a shit if he gets a thrill? IMO that's a completely irrelevant point.

People with empathy. People who understand the nuance of conversation.

[Medusa]

Re: GoDaddy CEO Hunts &quot;Problem Elephants&quot;

People with empathy. People who understand the nuance of conversation.

Go picket the lions that get a thrill from killing an elephant then.

[Roknrol]

Re: GoDaddy CEO Hunts &quot;Problem Elephants&quot;

People with empathy. People who understand the nuance of conversation.

Or...people who obviously don't have anything really worthwhile in their own lives so they feel the need to tell the rest of the world how to live.

It's easy to tell people which animals they aren't allowed to kill when you're not the one starving.

[thalassa]

Re: GoDaddy CEO Hunts &quot;Problem Elephants&quot;

People with empathy. People who understand the nuance of conversation.

Conversation or conservation?

Because the simple "nuance" of conservation biology is that an overwhelming number of studies show that banning hunting and harvesting wholesale is incredibly ineffective when the local population is adversely effected by the ban.

[Ophidia]

Re: GoDaddy CEO Hunts &quot;Problem Elephants&quot;

I think what really did it for me was watching the video & seeing how quickly & efficiently that elephant's carcass was stripped to bones. And seeing, really seeing, the torn and worn clothes the villagers were wearing. Not to mention just how many people showed up hoping to take home a morsel of protein. That elephant was not going to be some trophy mounted on someone's wall - that elephant was food - not some gourmet meal for a well-off millionaire, but vital protein. Not a single scrap of that animal was going to waste.

And for those mentioning lions - as a rule, unless the elephant is very young & somehow separated from its herd, or old and already dying, lions are not elephant hunters. Even a pride of healthy prime-of-their-life lions will not take on a full-grown healthy elephant, unless it's downed by injury or something first.

[Raphaeline]

Re: GoDaddy CEO Hunts &quot;Problem Elephants&quot;

I honestly know no more than what I posted. I don't even remember if it was what I read or the article it linked to that said there are other methods of solving the problems some elephants cause before killing them.

It may be illegal poaching that's responsible for the decline of the elephant, but that only - in my mind, at least - increases the need to deal with the animals rather than kill them.

And as for the people living there, if (and I'm not saying I'm well informed about this situation, because, again, I haven't actually read more than a couple of articles on this situation) they were starving and were grateful that he came and killed an elephant that fed them, I think it's their place to kill their meat, not someone from another country who was so humbly and selflessly helping others that he took a grinning trophy picture (which I find tasteless, because he did it with high-powered weapons. He'd almost have to be more proud of the fact that he GOT to kill one rather than feeling some sort of accomplishment from it. It gives me the same frustration as when I saw my brother deer hunting by leaving a pile of corn on the ground and chilling out in a tree overhead... I just don't think the term "hunting" should apply).

Maybe I just really like elephants and think anyone who kills one sucks. *shrug*

[Medusa]

Re: GoDaddy CEO Hunts &quot;Problem Elephants&quot;

I think what really did it for me was watching the video & seeing how quickly & efficiently that elephant's carcass was stripped to bones. And seeing, really seeing, the torn and worn clothes the villagers were wearing. Not to mention just how many people showed up hoping to take home a morsel of protein. That elephant was not going to be some trophy mounted on someone's wall - that elephant was food - not some gourmet meal for a well-off millionaire, but vital protein. Not a single scrap of that animal was going to waste.

And for those mentioning lions - as a rule, unless the elephant is very young & somehow separated from its herd, or old and already dying, lions are not elephant hunters. Even a pride of healthy prime-of-their-life lions will not take on a full-grown healthy elephant, unless it's downed by injury or something first.

My bad. Whatever the lions are eating..I'm sure there's some thrill in the killing.

I think it's their place to kill their meat,

So..I'm guessing all the meat you eat you kill yourself? And only do so because you are starving?:=L:

Maybe I just really like elephants and think anyone who kills one sucks. *shrug*

I totally get that. I mean, hell I like cows and cute lil piggies. But it's my food. That elephant is food to them. They are used to it...because they see elephants about as often as we see cows just chilling on the side of the freeway.

[Raphaeline]

Re: GoDaddy CEO Hunts &quot;Problem Elephants&quot;

So..I'm guessing all the meat you eat you kill yourself? And only do so because you are starving?:=L:

I'm seeing it cross-culturally, rather than personally.

And I really do wish I could say I kill my own meat. It hasn't been a realistic option given my current living situation, but yes, I would feel better about myself as a person if I knew how to hunt and could afford to raise and slaughter my own livestock (the latter might become reality if my older brother is serious about investing in cattle with me).

[Medusa]

Re: GoDaddy CEO Hunts &quot;Problem Elephants&quot;

I'm seeing it cross-culturally, rather than personally.

And I really do wish I could say I kill my own meat. It hasn't been a realistic option given my current living situation, but yes, I would feel better about myself as a person if I knew how to hunt and could afford to raise and slaughter my own livestock (the latter might become reality if my older brother is serious about investing in cattle with me).

Maybe the villagers don't know how to hunt elephants. I mean just because you are African, doesn't mean you know how to dance to the drums and make voodoo necklaces, right?