June, Brittany. Add African Lions and Elephants to the Endangered Species Act. 2015. Retrieved fromhttps://www.change.org/p/us-fish-and-wildlife-service-add-african-lions-and-elephants-to-the-endangered-species-act
Poaching and hunting for sport of animals, like lions and elephants for example, is one of the cruelest things a person can do. Most people would agree with this and hope that those responsible would be caught. Sometimes though, the wild kingdom takes matters into their own paws, hoofs, or other kinds of feet and save all of us some taxpayer money.
That was certainly the case for one poacher who not only was caught in the act but was taken care of, in a matter of speaking. According to timw_brap (sickchirpse.com) a poacher did not have the day he had planned. He writes that his poacher entered into “Kruger National Park in South Africa, where it’s being reported that the remains of…a poacher have been discovered after having been trampled to death and then subsequently eaten by lions” (timw_brap 1). This poacher is suspected of being trampled by elephants first. Arguably not his best day. But entering into Kruger National Park with such intentions is not only illegal but also shows the lengths poachers will go to get animals or the parts they want off of them.
Even though there is very little room for sympathy for this poacher, there is another side to this story that may give some, myself included, pause to remember that every story has multiple angles and perceptions. Timw_brap does say that “Only a human skull and a pair of trousers were left after he had been devoured by the lions” (timw_brap 1). When asked by the Managing Executive of Kruger National Park, Glenn Phillips, about this, he says that “It is very sad to see the daughters of the deceased mourning the loss of their father, and worse still, only being able to recover very little of his remains” (timw_brap 1). When I got to this part in the article, I was even sad and felt some sympathy for his daughters because they did lose their dad and I cannot even imagine losing my dad ever, under any circumstances. But my dad is not the kind of person who has these kinds of sick thoughts about killing innocent animals for sport. But still, I do feel for the daughters.
Even though this poacher went into the park for malicious reasons, which are unforgivable, he does leave behind family who will miss him and do not have much of him left to bring home. But that being said, hopefully his daughters will learn from their father’s mistakes and do not share this same cruel view for innocent animals. Let this be a lesson to all the other poachers out there who enjoy this or get some kind of sick rush from killing these animals. Those elephants and lions may not always get along or be in the same part of the food chain but they are smart and they may just recognize the same kind of behavior or clothing and decide to work together again…if you catch my drift.
