On Saturday, October 10, 2015, a daily newspaper published a photo of a dead river otter which had been bludgeoned and left on the pavement in San Fernando. The story which accompanied it referred to an online petition, addressed to the Minister of Agriculture, to reinstate the ban on hunting. In addition, all through the week, on the TV news and in the print media, pictures were published of iguanas hog-tied and strung up for sale, heaps of dead animal carcasses, including deer, wild hog and armadillos galore.
Animals are fleeing to people’s homes to save their poor lives.
As a citizen, I am deeply concerned for the plight of these creatures. They are at the mercy of wild and indiscriminate hunters. Don’t these people have any feelings? Just think—all hours of the night, a hunter runs through a mosquito- and scorpion-infested forest, littered with thorns and ants, stalking a deer of no more than ten pounds for his impoverished pot.
There are no toilets and running water, so he can’t wash hands. He can’t take a shower nor brush his teeth. So he stinks just like an animal to catch a manicou that has young to feed. Boom! He shoots the thing and right there he guts it. Where does he leave the entrails? The answer is right there. How sanitary is that?
Where is the fun in seeing a little animal scampering for safety and chasing after it with a pack of bloodthirsty hounds? For God’s sake, why are anteaters and otters being killed? These are not edible, nor is their skin used for anything.
I cry shame on those people who eat the peaceful iguana. Does it not mean more that we have a healthy wildlife population?
Will the minister not do anything except conduct a survey, fire some contract workers or try to hire some game wardens? Can there not be a curfew within the hunting season? Have we ever explored the possibility of reserves where hunting is strictly prohibited and only when the population allows for it then there is supervised hunting allowed by qualified and responsible hunters? Does anybody remember Cecil, the majestic, iconic Zimbabwean lion who was slain “for fun”?
For heaven’s sake, these people may very well kill the two giraffes at the zoo if they got the chance. When these animals are all killed out, I trust these hunters will be satisfied to hunt each other.
God bless this nation.
Lystra Marajh,
Glencoe