Famous bull elephant killed by hunters in Zimbabwe

09/06/2010 16:33:23 Musango legally killed in morally abhorrent shooting

June 2010. There are two pictures here. The one is a painting of the "Musango" Bull Elephant by well known artist Larry Norton, and the other is a photograph taken by Garth Thompson, one of Africa's best known professional guides.

Two facts emerge from these pictures. The first is the extraordinary beauty and size of this elephant and the second is that it is so patently obvious that this is a gentle creature, allowing anybody to approach him closely. Musango is also wearing a clearly visible satellite tracking collar. Indeed, Roger Parry having been given authority by National Parks to dart this elephant, was able to easily get within a few metres of it before firing the dart.

This elephant was estimated to have another 15-20 years of life ahead of it. 

He is now dead.  

"The killing of such a great Tusker is made more tragic by the fact that these living monuments are so rare, and I am appalled that he was shot by a hunter whose fraternity is one of the main custodians of such magnificent animals and our wildlife heritage."

He was shot around the 23rd of May, 2010 by a professional hunting organization in the Omay North area, adjacent to Lake Kariba. This hunter did nothing illegal, according to existing law within Zimbabwe. It is not illegal to shoot a collared animal (unless specially protected by the minister). But the international and local reaction to the ethical and moral issues involved in this incident has been overwhelming.

Accordingly ZCTF have launched a petition; the aim of this petition is twofold; 

1. To request the authorities, once the Minister has given special protection status to any animal, to take immediate and proactive steps to inform all hunters and hunting institutions of such protected status. The Musango Bull was regarded by many as part of Zimbabwe's national heritage, and is now gone.

2. To get the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters Association to define their own ethical and moral standards in relation to collared animals, and specifically this elephant, and to fully investigate, with independent observers, the killing of the Musango Bull. 

How to support this petition? E-mail a letter or signsend it to musangobull@yahoo.com  

Brave hunter?
Wildlife Extra guesses that the brave hunter had plenty of photos taken of himself with the butchered animal which he will no doubt be showing to his friends at home to prove just how tough he really is - Forgetting to mention that this great bull was so approachable that he probably walked right up to him before pulling the trigger.