Looks like another Cecil
International
Looks like another Cecil the lion has been killed.....to add insult to injury I heard he killed it with a 100 yard bow shot.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9507885/trophy-hunting-couple-kiss-corpse-lion/
Here is the link .’
That is one beautiful full mane lion!!!
Total dumb asses for posting that pic.
Do lions that beautiful get taken on the truly free range hunts? Everything I've ever read says no, but I could be wrong. Anyone know?
Nick I'll let some of them the professional hunters and African agents give you an updated answer BUT back in the 80s to mid 90s when we were booking a lot of Safaris that lion would have been called a Box Lion or a Zoo lion. The kind of Lion that got C.J. McElroy, the first president of Safari Club International, removed from office and his lions removed from the SCI record book.
I saw two lions, both from Tanzania , back in the day that were similar to this lion. Pretty rare though. Milked I said someone in the know now may answer the question better
Interesting.......
Saw these at the Field Museum in Chicago with my kids last week. Have been wanting to see them for 20 years. Both males without manes from the late 1800s that killed 28 locals.
Was a unique feeling looking at the skulls..knowing they were over 100 years old.
Who the hell reads "The Sun"
Probably kissing his guide for getting him on such a nice lion!
The one I read about was an elephant in Namibia that had a name and was shot on A PAC hunt
"Ghost in the darkness" was one of my absolute favorite movies as a kid! Brings back some good memories. Always wanted to see those mounts. They look hideous though! lol ..... I thought I remember hearing that they didn't have big enough forms back then and had to cut a lot of the hide off. Don't know if that's true or not, but judging from the museum pics doesn't look far off.
Who cares what they shot and if they posted it. Good for them. Looks like they were having fun.
I can tell you no completely "free range" lion will get a mane like that. I have tanned many lions and you can clearly tell the truly wild lions from preserve lions. Not only in the manes but the scars on their face.
Spiking the football type trophy photos never play well in the court of public opinion and often inspire well meaning folks to take action to shut down hunting which will actually hurts the species further. There are a growing number of conservationist scientists who accept that species like lions need economic value (like from sport hunting) in order to survive and thrive. Otherwise poachers, habitat loss, meat-gathering game snares, folks protecting livestock, and growing human-lion overlap (the lions always lose) leads to continued decline. Just look at Botswana’s failed anti-hunting, eco-tourism experiment — it was the local people who convinced the government that hunting derived far more benefit to the locals.
As far as animals raised for the purpose of hunting — it’s really a complex issue (if one can put aside the emotional reactions / moral judgements). Not that I’m personally in favor of it - but It does take some pressure off the declining number of fully mature Wild male lions, and ranch-bred lion cubs are allowed to live and grow to into spectacular full maturity - something that rarely happens In the Wild; and without the economic incentive he would never have existed at all. For example, U.S. game ranches (Texas and elsewhere) have been credited for saving and establishing healthy herds of a number of species severely threatened or endangered in their dwindling indigenous habitat. Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is “knee-jerk” reactions to a trophy photo in questionable taste often exacerbate problems and are not in the best interest of the species.
My 2 cents
Beautiful lion, and if the hunter wants to post a pic or two more power to him. The antis can go screw themselves, and the funny thing is I would be willing to bet that a huge majority of antis are pro choice. I think that says enough, and the antis need to be confronted whenever possible, because their so called argument doesn't hold water.
As I recall the Tsavo lions were initially skinned and trimmed as rugs; commonly done during that time. They were displayed that way for some time before they were acquired by The museum and then they were mounted or should I say attempted to be mounted with whatever poorly cut hide was still intact. The one laying flat had so much of his belly skin gone that it was the only position possible. I’m sure it was a tough job to do considering what condition those hides were in. Mange may also have been a factor in their lack of mane and general body hair.
It isn't the "antis" we need to be concerned about. It's the other 80%. This is going viral all over the world today as an example of the sickness of "trophy hunting". Cougar, wolf and all bear hunting are now branded as "trophy hunting". Those are the U.S. hunts showing up on the ballot on general elections, which those 80% will decide.
Get it?
Beautiful lion, and if the hunter wants to post a pic or two more power to him. The antis can go screw themselves, and the funny thing is I would be willing to bet that a huge majority of antis are pro choice. I think that says enough, and the antis need to be confronted whenever possible, because their so called argument doesn't hold water.
Shooting a pen raised animal isn’t hunting nor wildlife management.
From the link above the premise is that this was a canned hunt, but no real proof of that was provided. Just some selected people’s (antis) opinions were used to drum up the story. The Kalahari strain of lion is known for having one of the best most luxurious manes, extending far back on the underbelly. I don’t know with any certainty if it was a indeed a canned hunt or simply a magnificent specimen of wild Kalahari lion. The article’s intent is to portray this in the worst possible way so of course they are claiming it was canned without providing any real evidence. I imagine more info will be brought up on this point. Still, that was a poor choice of photos to post given the Cecil experience.
When you see nice hair back here in front of the legs, it’s safe to say that it’s a canned lion.
The “Kalahari Lions” are a joke. “They are crossing-in from the Kalahari in Botswana and killing my friend’s game on his farm, if we go right now, we can probably find him!”
Common South African trick for you to shoot a canned lion and you have no idea. I’ve heard PHs sell this to people.
I doubt if the hunter cares about any of the points made in this thread.
It was stated he was a taxidermist and most likely wanted the finest specimen he could get of a male lion.
I have tanned countless animals that came from zoos to be mounted. When a lion becomes this old and mature he doesn`t do the breeding and is probably soon to die off. He is just consuming animals/$$$$ on the PH`s concession. Who knows how large this "preserve" is.....it could be hundreds of thousands of acres.
Are elk shot on private ranches "canned hunts".....it begs the question. Pretty sure a lion could scale a 20' fence so I don`t think the fence part fits in to the equation.
Yup.. Spiking the football at it's finest.
African hunting has a bigger image problem than we do here in the US and that is saying something. if and when we ever hunt grizzlies, we'll be on equal footing with them.
I don't know anything at all about their game laws, but hopefully the reputable operations can start exerting pressure to get this type of stuff stopped.
"African hunting has a bigger image problem than we do here in the US..." Yeah, BY PEOPLE FROM THE US! I doubt people in Africa frown on hunting. Hunting is a lot of what keeps their economies healthier than they would be otherwise. Poaching is frowned on there but it occurs when legal hunting is NOT allowed. Their situation is not the same as it is here. They don't have a bunch of bunny huggers living in cities putting themselves in cages dressed as cats (or undressed as cats), with PETA signs on them. People there look up to hunting, and many of them rely on the meat provided by PHs from clients' kills they freely hand out.
"Great Lion... nice kiss and looks to be a cutie"
If you like his tattoo just come out and say so! lol!
"Yeah, BY PEOPLE FROM THE US!"
and the whole western world.....which is of course a huge deal because the vast majority of hunters in Africa are from the west.
What do you think happens if North America and Europe agree to not let in any Big 5 animal imports? I don't think it is out of the realm of possibility to see something like this in the future.
Aren’t all African game animals shot behind high fence? Why is this one a problem?
Not all of them are high fence. But a lot of South Africa is HF.
I have been there , but please tell us ground hunter.
“Spiking the football” Trophy Photos like this are always used by the Humane Society and other Anti organizations to cast all hunting in a negative light, energize activists, turn neutrals into antis, and lobby politicians into “knee-jerk” anti-hunting legislation.
It’s no accident that this photo went mainstream right when the antis are pushing Congress to pass the Cecil Act - see attached link
That CBS piece is more biased media crap from the left-wing anti-hunting zealots that cherry pick sound bites to enhance the narrative it supports which is to end ALL hunting world-wide... If you think it stops at sport hunting in Africa, think again.... If they have success banning sport hunting in Africa, your whitetails, bears, and elk. etc,.. are next...
No offense to Tess Talley or the other hunter identified as LG, but they were not the most informed, or articulate hunters for the arguments at hand. Lots of opportunity was missed in that piece to make many more fact-based arguments destroying Block's ridiculous statements. It was no accident that they gave the President of the DSC one sentence in a 24-minute segment....
Kitty Block is the anti-hunting community equivalent of Hilary Clinton. She is an emotionally driven compulsive liar that completely fabricates her data and talking points. Obviously, nobody at CBS bothered to fact-check her numbers which are completely made up... The game wardens and anti-poaching law enforcement units in particular are completely funded by money spent by hunters for the purchase of sport hunting licenses and permits in 14 African countries. Currently, there is $0 tax generated from any ecotourist related activities to fund wildlife study, game law enforcement, and habitat preservation. Hunting dollars pays for these protections for both public and private lands in Africa... Too bad nobody asked Kitty why Kenya lost over 80% of its wild game populations to poaching since 1977 when it banned sport hunting, or why the government of Botswana just re-opened sport hunting after a 5-year ban....
Somebody's FB photo posted on the internet whether on purpose or by accident is not the problem.... I'm sorry, but if any hunter thinks the best strategy is to remain quiet, off the radar, and in the shadows in the hope that they will leave us alone, I completely disagree. Hunters need to be more unified, vocal, and out in front of this as ever making our case about the major contributions we make in preserving both wild game and their habitat world-wide.
This whole deal is just more of the same old anti hunting propaganda machine that is driven by junk science and emotional Disney land crap. We need to vote these lame politicians that promote there anti hunting, animal rites agenda out of office. The American conservation model , as well as all scientific wildlife conservation is under attack by these whackos. A perfect example of there misguided policy results is reflected in the recent turn of events it Botswana.
No fence high fence, you stick one of them in the wrong spot and someone’s life is at risk. Get a 4 pound house cat that goes ballistic and try to hang on. Think what a 400 pound cat will do to you? Every year of two some semi tame lion in a cage gets the opportunity to get someone in their cage. Ends up badly. I would not want to go after a lion with no back up.
The "Botswana Experiment" was a complete failure. The eco nuts said that the "Eco Safaris" such as photography and tourism would replace the $$$$ that hunting brought in.
EPIC FAIL.....great day for hunting!
No fence high fence, you stick one of them in the wrong spot and someone’s life is at risk. Get a 4 pound house cat that goes ballistic and try to hang on. Think what a 400 pound cat will do to you? Every year of two some semi tame lion in a cage gets the opportunity to get someone in their cage. Ends up badly. I would not want to go after a lion with no back up.
Sad. Was a time that would have been the cover on a good many magazines. I'm not sad for the lion. Mostly society..... how whiny and soft in their urban fantasy world.... dredged up manufactured drama is all they have left to feel any passion.... they've lost not only the ability to pursue true adventure.... but the will. It's a sad thing we are losing..... replaced by virtue signaling.....
Heck of a lion. That's a beauty! I don't know the circumstances, but like much African game, good chance the locals benefited greatly and one less lion to eat them or their livestock. WRT mane, Cecil was packin, pretty well IIR, and some of the males that kicked his azz all over were as well. Plenty of assumptions being made. Guessing they probably had a Magnum hair brush and a blow drier (leaf blower?) to fluff things up for the pic as well.
WRT "spiking the ball", did the hunter publicly post that or did someone "leak" it? Do we now not take hero pics? Personally I'd take a hundred or two pics in that spot. Too big to do the chest hold kitty pose though, maybe if you were Hafthor......
When I heard "spike the ball" my first thought was a Ron White joke about running "amok"..... hell yeah..... I'll spike wid ya.....LOL!
My understanding is that's a lion with a bow. Wow. Some folks likely undeerstand..... others need to just quietly climb back up in their trees......
Nicely done loved the Ron white reference lol
