Friday May 15, 2009, 8:54 pm
WRONG< WRONG< WRONG!!!! This is Not a good alternative to hunting animals just for the fun of it! This makes me sick. Why can't they change their mindset from killers to lovers of nature?? Get a damn camera instead. Thanks Tom.

Friday May 15, 2009, 10:42 pm
Good ploy by Big Pharma to make some more dollars to add to that 300 billion industry.
I would rather see an animal dead than feed their criminal pocket.

Friday May 15, 2009, 11:01 pm
These jerks need to take all that money and go buy an erector set and build themselves a brain...IDIOTS

Friday May 15, 2009, 11:01 pm
I don't understand why for some it is a "thrill" to hunt animals for sport.
Animals shouldn't be chased, stressed and injured by tranquilizer hunting. Leave them be to live their own lives in peace.

Friday May 15, 2009, 11:21 pm
What a bunch of wicked jerks! They need a new hobbie, like tinker toys.
Tx Tom

Saturday May 16, 2009, 5:30 am
yes what a bunch of jerks .why don't they grow up?

Saturday May 16, 2009, 11:15 am
The dosage for the tranquilising varies from animal to animal. Will these 'pot-shots' happen under veterinary supervision? Who is running alongside the animal (while being chased) to comfort it and to explain to it that this is a 'non-lethal' game devised by humans for their brainless entertainment?

I'm thoroughly sick of people who insist on killing, who insist on abusing animals - all in the name of sport! These people are a gutless and mindless species.

Saturday May 16, 2009, 11:46 am
This is creepy, who thinks up this stuff? Do we follow this with green cock fighting and maybe some green prisoner torture?

Saturday May 16, 2009, 12:03 pm
Zimbawe needs to ban all big game hunts. I have a friend who big game hunts there and his house if full of stuffed trophies and rugs. Love the friend, hate the killings! These licenses must be banned to preserve our wildlife!, thanks Tom

Saturday May 16, 2009, 1:18 pm
I approve of hunting - not with a gun but with a camera. That has to be the ultimate buzz that they can get close enough to do that and leave the animal safe and well for everyone to enjoy.

Saturday May 16, 2009, 2:47 pm
Noted, thanks Tom. Hunting of any kind (except with a camera) needs to be banned world-wide. Exceptions should be made for indigenous cultures whose livelyhood and cultures have depended on hunting for millenia for survival.
But I don't see why anyone who is not indigenous who can get to a supermarket should be involved in hunting.

Saturday May 16, 2009, 9:42 pm
Disgusting, it's no better than killing the animal. Why don't they take a tranquilizer and let the hunters loose and then shoot them with it and see how they like it.

Sunday May 17, 2009, 1:44 am
When you read the title of this post about green hunting, you wouldn't imagine that Zimbabwe has any problems other than the killing of their precious wildlife on tourist safaris.

In actual fact, there are horrendous human rights abuses still going on there. Mugabe's Zanu PF supporters and police illegally detained, brutally tortured & maimed, and murdered hundreds of people last spring and summer both before and after the election campaign & the election, the results of which were not announced for months, while the campaign of terror against Movement for Democratic Change opponents to Mugabe's regime continued, with daily 'disappearances' & murders. Disappearances & unlawful detentions went on even into October, 2008.

Some of these people are still 'disappeared' - no news of what happened to them, whether they are dead or alive! - and others are dying a slow death of starvation in horrendous detention conditions!

Even for those not imprisoned, the brooding climate of fear still exists in Zimbabwe. It is not simply a haven for the wealthy, whether traditional wild game hunters or those who practise the new, controversial 'green' version.

10 days ago, Susty posted an excellent 'OneWorld.net' article, with essential links to Amnesty & HumanRightsWatch, Zimbabwe Rights Activists Re-Arrested dated May 5th.

It would seem the situation was shortly reversed -at least for some of them- according to the following 'This is Zimbabwe' post, dated the following day :

Judge Frees Zimbabwean Rights Activist
May 6th, 2009
Via The Associated Press:

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwean rights activist Jestina Mukoko and 14 other people were ordered freed on bail Wednesday after the president and the prime minister forced a judge to reverse the previous day’s decision that had sparked outrage.

James Maridadi, spokesman for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, said the premier had raised the issue Tuesday in meetings with President Robert Mugabe and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.

“And they agreed that the bail conditions should be reinstated,” Maridadi told The Associated Press. He said the justice minister was directed to ensure the agreement was carried out.

At a hastily called court hearing Wednesday, Harare Magistrate Catherine Chimanda reversed her decision without saying why.

She refused, though, to free three others she had ordered returned to prison Tuesday, saying their case was more serious because they had allegedly been found in possession of explosives.

Mukoko testified during an earlier bail hearing that she had been tortured and assaulted during detention, and the defendants had bloodied, swollen faces during court appearances late last year.

The group, which includes members of the former opposition party that joined a coalition government in February, faces charges stemming from an alleged plot to overthrow Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Neighboring governments have said they believe the allegations are baseless.

The suspects had been free on bail for two months. Chimanda said Tuesday she was jailing them again because a formal indictment filed Monday accused them of sabotage, terrorism and banditry. Their trial is to start July 4.

Shortly before word spread they had been freed, former opposition leader Tendai Biti declared at a news conference Wednesday that “the political prisoners must be released.”

Biti’s Movement for Democratic Change joined Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party in a unity government in February to try to address the country’s economic and political crises, but the partnership has been strained between the longtime rivals. The MDC had said the ruling sending the suspects back to prison would undermine international confidence in Zimbabwe and could wreck the coalition.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband said in a statement Tuesday that the order to send the suspects back to a prison where they say they were tortured was “disappointing.

“The Foreign Secretary has previously said the release of all political detainees is one of the principal conditions for full international re-engagement with Zimbabwe. This remains the case at this crucial time for Zimbabwe,” Miliband said.

Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said the now-reversed order made it “pretty clear that ZANU-PF is trying to undermine the new power-sharing administration and is an example of Zimbabwe’s overall lack of progress in respecting the rule of law and basic rights.”

In New York, Amnesty International said Tuesday that “the detention of 18 human rights and political activists on false accusations that they plotted to topple the Zimbabwe government casts a shadow over the new government and calls into question its commitment to halt persecutions of political opponents.”


I think we need to know what is going on there, nomatter how horrible!

I hope the following article, illustrated with a number of striking and tragic photographs, Zimbabwe's Prisons Are Death-Traps, from the 'Sokwanele - Zvakwana (Enough is Enough)' site, will motivate people to support the people of Zimbabwe and keep up to date on human rights, health, and other essential social & political events there via the 'Sokwanele - Zvakwana (Enough is Enough)' site as well as their 'This is Zimbabwe' blog site, the latter of which has a May 15 update on the Zimbabwe prisons campaign.

Sunday May 17, 2009, 3:26 am
I don't even want to think about who will regulate and over see these hunts. why hunt at all? are some people that impotent, so inadequate in their lives that they need to feel the power of a kill, real or not? does this idea scare anyone else? wonder when it will be open green season on our homeless.
values sink so low, don't they?
ty Tom

Sunday May 17, 2009, 11:36 am
'new ways of strengthening wildlife conservation and management.' ?!

A way to satisfy the bloodthirsty without the killing of the animals. It sounds almost perfect.
Do they really think animal rights activists are naive enough to believe this.?

All they care for is the amount of money they can profit from allowing 'green' hunting' and are completely ignoring the potential harm that can be caused to the animals.

http://www.nspca.co.za/page.aspx?Id=124&CateId=20&Category=Wildlife&SubCateId=124&SubCategory=Green+Hunting

Monday May 18, 2009, 10:09 am
I totally agree that trophy hunting, whether with a tranquilizer dart or a gun, is dangerous and deadly and doesn't need to be done. I defiinitely agree that the camera is the most humane way of doing things, although the whole eco-tourism set-up has to be done right with the locals benefitting and also with as little disturbance to the wildlife as possible. Otherwise, even the camera option can be almost as damaging.

Monday May 18, 2009, 11:12 am
I dont believe anything about Zimbabwe, they kill and eat everything.

Wednesday May 20, 2009, 8:37 pm
Africa needs to leave these animals alone, they were not put here for their entertainment. They also need to ban big game hunting and and stop issuing licenses to hunt!, thanks Tom