It’s not nice when someone dies. Generally, I mean. There are several (or more) people on the planet that I certainly wouldn’t shed a tear for, and Asher Watkins is one of them, but it’s obviously sad for his family that he’s no longer with us.
Asher was a millionaire who sold ranches in the USA, and Asher died in Limpopo this week after being attacked by a Cape Buffalo.
Now, we all know that – infamously – hippos are the most dangerous big game animal in Africa. But there are plenty of others, and they’re called big game for a reason: as a human, you’re not going to come out on top in any contest with a lion, leopard, hippo, crocodile, giraffe, elephant or a buffalo.
The thing here is not that Asher died, nor the sob story that all the papers and news site shared about him and his family. It was more that Asher was a famous (in hunting circles, apparently) hunter, who hunted to [checks notes] “preserve wildlife”.*
While in Argentina he boasted of killing thousands of doves in just three days with friends.
Right. That’ll help. Not with dove numbers, but… something… maybe.
No, it was a bit of this statement which pushed me over the edge.
On Sunday while on a hunting safari with us in South Africa’s Limpopo Province, Asher was fatally injured, in a sudden and unprovoked attack by an unwounded buffalo.
Specifically the word “unprovoked”.
Which guy got killed? The one wandering around the buffalo’s territory with the big gun that he was intending to kill the buffalo with?
I’d list that behaviour quite neatly under “provocation”.
And then there’s this bit:
In a moment of fearlessness as he lived his life, he met the challenge head-on, leaving this world a man of courage, faith and adventure.
Bullshit (no pun intended). That’s absolutely not what happened in Limpopo. If he even had time to be aware of what was happening, I can absolutely assure you that in that split second, there was no fearlessness happening. Zero. Almost a metric ton of horned muscle heading straight towards you out of the bush at 50 kph?
Well, ok. Maybe the head-on bit is right, but as mentioned above – only ever going to be one winner in that contest.
And there was.
FAFO, as I believe is all the rage for the young people to say these days.
I don’t know. I eat meat, and I’m pretty sure that animals have to be killed for that. I just don’t really see the need to go out into the wild and kill stuff just for the “sport”? Because I never really saw hunting as sport: arguing that in sport, both players need to know they are playing, and further agreeing with Sep Guardiola that:
Maybe, after Asher Watkins’ defeat (and demise), I need to reevaluate those criteria a bit.
It was clearly game on – and then game over – in Limpopo.
.
* Yes, I know there are potential reasons behind his statement, but you can’t pick and choose; giving with one hand while taking away with the other. There’s no conservation value in what he was trying here.