Guest Editorial: Killing baboons is bad PR? Who knew?

This editorial is from the Chicago Tribune:

Most Americans don't hunt, but they're OK with other people doing it. It helps that it's a familiar part of American history, that it's a common source of food and that most of the harvesting occurs out of the view of those who might blanch at it.

Most, but not all. Idaho Game and Fish Commissioner Blake Fischer not only brought his pastime to the attention of people he doesn't know but rubbed their noses in it. After a hunting trip to Namibia, he treated a large circle of acquaintances to photos of his exploits - notably, one of him grinning over primates he had taken with a bow. His wife, on her first visit to Africa, wanted to see him hunting. “So I shot a whole family of baboons,” he crowed.

It doesn't take a genius to know that any sentence that begins, “I shot a whole family …” is bound to turn off some folks. The fact that baboons bear a distinct resemblance to humans makes hunting them particularly problematic. Then there's the matter of killing beasts for mere fun. Fischer might have realized the need for some discretion, at least.

Lacking that, he brought down an avalanche of anger on his own head when the images started circulating. Twitter lit up with the photo (and others of Fischer posing with other animals he had slain), eliciting comments such as one from “NCIS” actress Pauley Perrette: “What kind of monster kills giraffes and a family of baboons, including a mother clutching her baby, to impress his wife?”

Fischer didn't offend just Hollywood types. Former Idaho Fish and Game Commissioner Fred Trevey urged him to resign “to shield the commission as an institution and hunting as a legitimate tool of wildlife management from the harm that is sure to come.” Keith Carlson, another former commissioner, agreed: “I don't know how you can say anything good about a photo of a guy smiling with a stack of dead baboons with a baby in front.”

The object of all this criticism seemed baffled by the response. “I didn't do anything illegal,” he told the Idaho Statesman. “I didn't do anything unethical. I didn't do anything immoral.” Killing baboons, he argued, is a form of wildlife management just like that practiced in the United States with various creatures.

Fischer doesn't seem to appreciate the distinction most people make between seeking food and bagging trophies for kicks. Most Americans, polls indicate, accept the former and oppose the latter.

There is also the matter of sensible restraint. Fischer paid no heed to the recommendation in Idaho's hunter education guide: “Refrain from taking graphic photographs of the kill and from vividly describing the kill within earshot of non-hunters.” Sharing gruesome pictures is a good way to give hunters a bad name.

Even in hunter-friendly Idaho, Fischer may find he has bought himself a lot of needless trouble. After Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer killed Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe, he was widely vilified and had to suspend his practice because of picketing and safety concerns.

If Fischer wants to continue doing things that most people find offensive, he might want to skip the photos and emails next time. As any savvy game animal knows, high visibility is a good way to wind up in the crosshairs.

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