Reader hates elephants - Speak out: your forum to ponticipate, ponder and probe - Letter to the Editor

American Handgunner, March-April, 2004 by Andrew Shipley

I just want to let you know I'm not renewing my subscription when it runs out. I consider myself a pretty far-right conservative, but Mark Hampton's bit about going to Africa to kill an elephant was too much (Jan/Feb 2004). A**holes like that give gun fanatics a bad name. Let me guess, he needed the elephant meat for his freezer? It's sad when yon consider the elephant he killed had a higher IQ than he does.

Andrew Shipley

Spanaway, WA

Hampton's Response:

The concession we hunted gets a quota every year regarding how many bulls/cows it may harvest. If that quota is not met, wildlife officials conduct culling missions to control numbers. When elephant numbers get unbalanced, it affects all wildlife. Elephants are destructive feeders and they can destroy habitat for the rest of the animal kingdom. If the nay-sayers like yourself ever saw a culling operation in progress they wouldn't be so quick to hammer those hunters who spend their hard-earned dollars that go toward sound conservation management. It's a brutal sight, and often the culling is done with .308 semi-autos and military ball ammo.

All the meat from this hunt went to the local (needy) people including everything else--hide, tusk, etc. As always, hunting is a sound management tool for wildlife departments, whether it's Missouri whitetail or Zimbabwe elephant. The hunting dollar also helps finance anti-poaching efforts (which are necessary in Africa), along with many other programs and needs. If you'd like to learn more about this, Safari Club International would be a great resource.

Mark Hampton