WHAT IS IT ABOUT ?

Canned hunting and poaching is what I will be discussing today. Canned hunting is a cruel way of hunting animals, normally trophy hunters come to South Africa to go after lion but sometimes also other wildlife belonging to Africa. It is cruel as the animals are usually hand raised meaning most likely they are not scared of humans and think they are going to be fed when you enter the enclosure. Instead you go into that enclosure to shoot the animal take photos and then transport it to your house to be hung or stuffed or skinned as some new sort of house decoration. Poaching is a little bit different as the animals are not in enclosed areas they are actually wild and not used to people usually elephant and lion are targeted but the main target of course is the white or black rhino. The rhino or elephants tusks or horns will be hacked out of the face causing deep wounds to the animals which will bleed and later become septic if the animal hasn’t already died of from loss of blood or a high dosage of tranquilizer. One of the latest things in the poaching industry is to hunt lions before chopping off their heads and paws which is extremely cruel if the animal has not died as they will die a very slow excruciating death. 

WHY THIS SUBJECT ?

I was born into a wildlife loving family. My Grancha had me watching nature documentaries from the moment I could crawl. He absolutely loved the Kruger National Park and would go at least twice a year, he would always bring back a teddy and by the time I was 7 my room was full of nature posters and my bed scattered with animal teddies. I even had the whole of the big five all on my bed. Sadly when I was 8 my Grancha was diagnosed with lung cancer and wasn’t given that much longer to live. When I was 9 he passed away, we spread his ashes in Kruger National Park as it was his favorite place to be(It was legal to spread ashes at that time). I am no 16 years old and have never felt like I got the chance to say goodbye to my Grancha so it has haunted me for quite a while now. It still hurts when I think of you what an amazing man he was but I know he would be proud of me standing up for such an amazing cause. I know if he was still alive he would have stood tall and proud by my side and helped me along the way. 

WHAT CAN YOU DO ?

You can sign the petition and if you’ve got extra change feel free to donate to a foundation of your choice just make sure you do your research about the organization before donating. If your not sure, I’ll leave links that you can donate towards. 

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND SUPPORT �

Kind regards 

Ashley Geraldine Malcolm-Smith