Trophy Hunters Kill Vulnerable Zebras and Post Smiling Pictures on Instagram

You would think that by the year 2019, humans would have learned that violence is not the answer to everything. But no. There are people out there who are still running around, murdering defenseless animals and then cowardly attempting to justify it by calling it a "sport." Sorry, but if you want to engage in that kind of cruel activity, just own the title of a killer and move on.

And recently, things seem to have gotten worse, if they weren't already. A group of British trophy hunters have hit the headlines for posting photographs of them smiling beside the corpse of vulnerable zebras. I've never seen anything so disgusting in all my life...

Keep reading to find out exactly why this barbaric practice should be abolished...

Warning: I must warn you that this article contains some disturbing images.

via: Getty

Trophy hunting is the killing of wild animals for human pleasure. Some even refer to it as a "sport." The animals are often bred in captivity and are released into a fenced-off area where they are cornered in and gunned down by hunters. It doesn't sound like a sport to me.

These animals are actually bred to be hunted.

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Across Africa, there are hundreds of breeding facilities that churn out thousands of innocent animals to be hunted. The animals involved are habituated from an early age, often through being hand-reared and bottle-fed, so that they are no longer naturally fearful of people, making them easy targets for a rifle or bow when it comes to the hunt.

This is the main reason that many travel abroad to hunt.

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Because, here in the US, deer hunting is the most extreme that regulated and legal animal hunting will get. For the big "macho" hunters out there, deers are seen as child's play; many hunters want to take on larger, more dangerous animals to feed their nasty habit.

Though partaking in the sport comes with a hefty price tag.

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Keen hunters have been known to fork out tens of thousands of dollars just to corner an innocent and frightened animal and shoot it dead. What kind of satisfaction they get from it, I will never know.

The average price to hunt a lion in Africa is around $20,000, whereas an elephant can cost as much as $40,000.

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That makes trophy hunting a booming business. The industry employs ranchers, outfitters, professional hunters, gun manufacturers, and taxidermists alike. People with time, money, and a lack of sanity to ensure the business keeps on giving.

Some hunters try to justify their spending...

The hunters claim that they're helping to fund "conservation efforts" with the money that they pay to hunt. However, I think that's just an excuse to keep on killing. What's the point breeding animals only to kill them? You aren't adding to anything.

Some hunters claim to help endangered species with their hunting.

via: CNN

Back in January 2014, Corey Knowlton from Dallas, bid $350,000 for a permit to hunt and kill a then-endangered black rhino in Namibia. "I felt like from day one it was something benefiting the black rhino," Knowlton told CNN. "Being on this hunt, with the amount of criticism it brought and the amount of praise it brought from both sides, I don't think it could have brought more awareness to the black rhino."

And guess what?

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The Black Rhino is now fully extinct, with poaching and hunting being the primary factors to the species' decline. No one will ever see a Black Rhino ever again because these hunters couldn't help pull a trigger. Wow.

People have long protested the act of trophy hunting.

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Because, thankfully, we're not all barbaric monsters on thus planet.

But these British hunters have taken things to a whole new level...

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They decided they wanted to post a whole collection of photos showing them smiling beside the corpses of vulnerable zebras as if it is something to be proud of. I mean, how else would you like to spend a good ol' Sunday evening?

Zebras have recently been classified as vulnerable on the International Union of the Conservation of Nature's list.

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Approximately three years ago, we were all shocked to learn that alongside other wild animals, the number of zebras was also declining at a quicker rate than expected. The population dropped almost twenty-four percent over the past decade or so.

And if that's not alarming enough, we have trophy hunters such as these emerging from the bushes.

via: Hunter Hills

Because the animal is not illegal to hunt on the plains of South Africa, this group decided that was their next holiday destination. They each paid 4,915 dollars for a week's hunting in the area as well as an additional charge per animal slaughtered. And in this case, the cheapest option was a zebra, which cost them 614 dollars on top of their bill.

If you wanted to go for a different kind of animal, you'd better dig deeper into your wallet.

via: Hunter Hills

Hunters are expected to pay an extra 2,047 dollars to shoot at a giraffe and up to 7,916 dollars for a hippo. Sorry, but if you've got all that cash to spare, why don't you go and spend it on something less barbaric like a better haircut or a massage? Treat yourself. Idiots.

And the messages they left in the guestbook were also very concerning.

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One of the hunters had written: "Never had so much fun with my pants on." There we have the Brits, always keeping it classy.

All this is to bring a zebra's head back into the country?

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What kind of satisfaction do you get from that? Someone, please enlighten me because I'm having a really difficult time getting around the issue. Eduardo Goncalves, from the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, commented saying: "The government should ban imports of ­hunting trophies and call on other countries to join it. It's the only way to end this evil trade."

Boris Johnson, the current leader of the United Kingdom condemned the trade.

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He shared an article via Twitter with the caption: "We must end this barbaric practice." Yeah, that's all good and well but can you please change the UK's laws surrounding the problem, please? That would be a more ideal way to make progress.