Melissa Bachman (host of the Pursuit Channel’s Winchester Deadly Passion) makes a living hunting game and talking about it on television. She often posts photos of her "trophies" on her social media profiles, but her most recent photo has gotten folks around the world pretty upset.
While in South Africa, one of the animals that Bachman killed was this beautiful male lion. She posted the photo to Facebook and the outrage soon followed. More people were upset about Bachman's big smile and the claim that she is an "animal lover" than they were about the kill itself. A petition was started in South Africa to have Bachman banned from the country and according to ABC News, there are already over 15,000 signatures.
The Maroi Conservancy that owns the land where the host hunted defended her and the photo with a statement that includes the following: "We do ethical hunting and all meat from animals hunted is distributed to the local community...Melissa is a professional hunter and in no way is she involved in dubious practices. We are not apologising for facilitating the hunt. As for all the negative commentary towards us, please consider how much you have contributed to conservation in the past 5 years. If you are not a game farmer and struggling with dying starving animals, poaching and no fences in place to protect your animals and crop, please refrain from making negative degoratory comments. It is so easy to judge if you are staying in cities and towns, buying your meat at 'woolies' and going to game reserves maybe once a year." Bachman has yet to comment on the incident or the petition.
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[via ABCNews]
