Well lets take into account all the Buffalo slaughtered by the Americans to starve out the American Indians, or maybe the Quagga and Blaubok wiped out by the early Dutch settlers in South Africa, or lets go further back and look at the Dodo wiped out by various ships visiting its island home and killing them just to make lamp oil. Or how about the early New Zealand settlers bringing rats, foxes, domestic cats etc which has been responsible for the demise of many of the unique animals found there.
The fact is this is another person who makes a statement and the general public agree, because like sheep they follow some one who they believe to be experienced in what he is talking about. So answer me this, Mr Fiennes, as you have produced a photo of some white Europeans with a dead Tiger this is what you are using to illustrate your belief??
Funny how most of the Tiger sanctuaries in India are the old established hunting grounds of the Raj and white English rulers at the time. Now Tigers are on the increase again, and if it were not for some of these places Tigers would probably not have survived there today. Besides I think you will find that it was many early hunters and explorers that defined some of the species of today. This includes people such as Selous and Major Powell - Cotton, the later discovered some 50 new sub species before his death in 1940.
Its incredible that someone who has done so much to explore our world, is in my opinion totally out of touch with the past history and some of the old explorers and hunters who braved areas of the world where you have visited with modern technology. Those past men bought the world of natural history to the many, and deserve better credit than you are giving them.
And by the way if your happen to read this, I spent over 30 years working my way up the ladder in the Powell - Cotton Museum to become Curator/Director, working eventually with many notable anthropologists and zoologists from around the world, and have also carried out taking skin samples for DNA analysis for such projects as the Giant Sable, Simitar Oryx, Lowland Gorilla and the Quagga to name but a few.
Thank you, but you are totally wrong in my opinion.
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