Australian politician Robert Borsak of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party has openly confessed to killing and eating an elephant, and said it was “quite tasty”.
A few years ago he was photographed kneeling beside a dead elephant on a hunting trip to Africa which raised a lot of controversy, and, speaking in a Parliamentary debate, he confessed to eating the animal.
The Upper House MP told the Daily Telegraph: “All the hunting of elephants or indeed any animals in Africa is done on the basis that nothing is wasted”.
“I eat it while hunting over there, usually in the form of billtong (dried meat). Most meat, however goes to the traditional owners of the land upon which they are hunted and killed, along with hunting fees.”
According to him, the elephants he kills in Africa are from “problem animal control programs”.
“The reality is that the hunting programs in conservation terms in Zimbabwe are so successful that there are far too many elephants.”
“This is now even worse now that the Obama administration has banned elephant product imports and the funds from these hunters can no longer go into financing the wildlife authorities, so the elephant poachers move in.”
Borsak said he shot and killed the elepehant in Zimbabwe, in a traditional tribal area of the Zambesi Valley.
He slammed the “insidious growth of skewed animal rights ideology”, and said that “animals do not have intrinsic human rights”.
He continued: “Humans have been hunters and gatherers for the better part of our existence.
“Our bodies, minds and civilisations have developed and benefited from hunting, gathering and eating meat. Yet, extremist animal rights groups – many of whom engage in illegal actions, trespass and harassment – have far too great a say in public policy.”
Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham hit back at his insensitivity and said: “It’s sick to shoot and kill an elephant for thrills, and it’s revolting that Mr Borsak would eat the elephant. He’s unfit for office.”
The controversial news comes after another hot debate surrounding the gorilla and child at Cincinnati Zoo, with police considering charges of neglect against the parents.
