Guardian Today

Not everyone's cup of tea but again not realy a balanced article, I do think that the availability of farmed lions takes the pressure off of the wild ones but also think the original law that they should be free for a period before being hunted was correct in hunting reserves, it's certainly taken the pressure of poaching "why bother" if they are available then there's no need to poach one "simples" but I don't think the canned lion would suit me but if we were all the same it would be a boreing world each to their own I say.
 
Can't say I'd be overly keen on taking on a lion with a bow like the bloke at the end of it!

I think the comment above about it being morally not that far off rearing pheasants is fair - its hard not to be somewhat hypocritical on this even if at first its distasteful.

I would imagine (hope?) that it brings in serious money to the local communities, and takes the pressure off the wild populations, if it means that they are better protected, and that the locals value them more, and get serious money back into their communities through hunting rather than poaching, then I think I would, grudgingly, have to accept it - more so if they've got a sporting chance of getting away, rather than a fully fenced compound
 
Can't say I'd be overly keen on taking on a lion with a bow like the bloke at the end of it!

I think the comment above about it being morally not that far off rearing pheasants is fair - its hard not to be somewhat hypocritical on this even if at first its distasteful.

I would imagine (hope?) that it brings in serious money to the local communities, and takes the pressure off the wild populations, if it means that they are better protected, and that the locals value them more, and get serious money back into their communities through hunting rather than poaching, then I think I would, grudgingly, have to accept it - more so if they've got a sporting chance of getting away, rather than a fully fenced compound

Not really the same as a bird that can clear off over the horizon(but I see what you mean). Was pleased to hear that there are so many Lions being bred. Be interesting to know what all those folks who go and pet them on the farms think about the animals inevitable end.
 
I counted at least 9 shots for the first lion, a complete joke imo, if you cant hit a large, still target, you shouldn't be allowed to shoot. The first and second shots appear to miss, and just wound the animal up.

I can see the similarities to pheasants, in the fact they are bred to be shot, but that's it. They are not fenced in and can therefore wander off the Shoot, and can go any and every way they wish when being pushed towards the Guns. They enter the food chain too, either via the gamedealer or by the Guns and beaters.
 
I can see the similarities to pheasants, in the fact they are bred to be shot, but that's it. They are not fenced in and can therefore wander off the Shoot, and can go any and every way they wish when being pushed towards the Guns. They enter the food chain too, either via the gamedealer or by the Guns and beaters.

You're right, I was just being a bit flippant. There's also a question of the degree of sentience of the species, although you can't really measure that objectively. But it seems to me that a creature with a larger brain is capable of a greater degree of suffering than one with literally a bird brain. So it's worse to mistreat a lion than a pheasant or a fish. I'm drifting a bit off-topic though. Your point about the food chain is important: it's OK to breed the pheasants and then shoot them because we eat them. The lion as a species is generally not a pest, although the odd individual may be of course, and we don't eat them. In my opinion, that makes it worse to breed a lion to shoot it than to do the same with a pheasant or a deer. Either way though, from a sporting ethics perspective, I find all of those distasteful. There's no "fair chase" and it is no more hunting than wringing a chicken's neck. It reflects badly on all of us.
 
whilst not supporting canned lion hunting, the 'caged' area may be vast, and a lion still needs to be hunted and shot properly. Not my cup of tea either, but the clip was not balanced and lets not forget that South Africa has some of the best successes in animal conservation .... maybe you can afford a truely wild lion hunt in Tanzania, but a south african lion shot on a reserve (and to my knowledge there are no 'free' areas in SA other than national parks) is the best that some may be able to do it if it is a lifes ambition.
my perception is that 'lazy' hunters prevail though!
Tony
 
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