Necessity, yes. Sport, no.
The type of hunting the dentist engaged in has nothing to do with sport and everything to do with ego gratification. I believe his claim that he was not aware — or more likely chose not to be aware — of the identity of this particular lion and was blindly following the lead of his
guides. His so-called
hunt was nothing more than an elaborate assassination scheme and I find it difficult to believe the
hunter was unaware of that. But his judgement was probably blinded by his eagerness to kill a trophy animal or maybe just to kill. He could have created the same hunting experience at a zoo but would have been unlikely to have gotten away with it. From his remarks since his name came out, I doubt that he is capable of comprehending the point of the furor over his action. He appears to think the criticism is for killing someone's pet when in fact it was the tragic and completely unnecessary taking of the life of a magnificent creature of God.
Before criticizing the dentist too strongly take a look at deer
hunting(???) practices in North America whether it is with a gun or a bow. Too often, there is little real hunting. Instead the deer are chummed up to feeders throughout the entire year and elaborate hunting stands are set up well before the season opens so deer become accustomed to seeing them.
Hunting in this scenario consists of getting to the blind and waiting for the deer to come up to the proffered feed and then assassinating the pick of the lot. More akin to slaughtering sheep in an abattoir than it is to real hunting.
I understand and enjoy
real hunting. I used to hunt quail, doves, pheasants, and water fowl taking great pleasure in the companionship of my fellow hunters; walking many miles through country that I loved; being in the outdoors; observing the wild hunters (coyotes, bobcats, hawks, owls,
etc.); watching good dogs work; and hopefully bringing home some game for the table. Although it was rewarded later at the diner table, killing the birds was the least enjoyable part of the experience. With the reduction in quail population due to climate changes, south American fire ant invasion, loss of habitat, and hunting pressure, I put my shotgun away and haven't taken it out for many years. Now I limit my wildlife activities to catching and release fly fishing for trout and believe me the odds are greatly in the trout's favor.
