Trump Panders to the Wealthy

​worldanimalnews.com/trump-administration-caters-to-wealthy-trophy-hunters-by-allowing-the-import-of-another-critically-endangered-black-rhino-trophy-from-namibia/

Surprise surprise, President Trump panders to the wealthy at the expense of animals that are fucking endangered. IN extremely unsurprising news, the Trump administration has granted one Michigan man the right to import a black rhino trophy he paid $400, 000 to slaughter in Namibia Africa last year. This allowance would be the sixth black rhino trophy permitted into the US since 2013 and the third since Trump took office.

Before I dive into how disgusting his administration's stance on the value of animals is, I'd like to discuss the current state of black rhinos in Namibia. There are only approximately 2000 black rhinos left in Namibia which if we compare that to the population of Namibia at just over 2 and a half million people, there are 1.2% black rhino population versus human population. Shockingly, despite the alarmingly low number of black rhinos left in the wild, 27 were poached in 2017 and 57 in 2018 which is double the amount in only one year. This demonstrates a frightening trend in growth in the amount of rhinos slaughtered every year and if that continues to increase, black rhinos will join the northern white rhinos in extinction.

I think what I find especially difficult to wrap my head around is the amount of money paid to have the purported privilege of killing an endangered animal. $400, 000 is a boatload of money, like more than some of us may see in our lifetime and this scumbag human being shelled it out in one go just to shoot a black rhino dead. There's something so twisted and sick about the whole thing when you think about that kind of money being involved. Trophy hunters continue to argue for conservation claiming that money is funded towards conservation efforts in the respected countries but the fact is, that money is not helping whatsoever when you consider double the amount of black rhinos were killed in just one year.

What is the least surprising part of this story you ask? How about the Trump administration allowing this trophy into the US despite publicly calling trophy hunting a "horror show". Once again, he says one thing to appease an audience but it ends up being just another one of his lies because at the core, he cares more about wealthy human scumbags than he does endangered animals. In fact, his administration has repeatedly tried to chip away at the protections animals in danger have in place in favour of corporations. 

Look, black rhinos are in serious danger of extinction here. It's time to actually do something about this as opposed to letting someone spill blood for the right price. Enough is enough, trophy hunting needs to be banned when we are talking about endangered animals. There is simply no time to waste and if we continue to turn our backs on endangered animals in favour of the highest bidder, we can say goodbye to some of the most recognized and celebrated animals in the world.

HAPPY VEG