Video Shows Safari Club Torturing, Killing Animals, ‘Most Abhorrent Case Of Animal Abuse Ever Recorded’ [Video]

WARNING: Before watching the video note that it does contain graphic hunting scenes and animal abuse.

In a startling video, a licensed safari club is seen hunting protected animals with semi-automatic weapons, running over animals with jeeps, and otherwise torturing animals before killing them. The video was so shocking that is being called one of the worst animal abuse cases ever recorded. The incident lead to the removal of the Green Mile Safari Club’s hunting license, but shows the real abuse that some safari animals are subjected to at the hands of human big game hunters.

Motherboard reports that the video is from a promotional DVD offered by the Green Mile Safari Club titled, “Hunting Trip Tanzania 2012 Season.” The footage is so graphic, the crimes so egregious that the Dallas Safari Club, in a letter to Tanzania’s minister of natural resources and tourism, said:

“Without question, the video depicts some of the most abhorrent displays of unethical hunting behavior and animal abuse ever recorded.”

The video shows the hunters taunting a baby zebra to the point it is crying for help. The men laugh as the baby zebra screams for its mother. They do the same to a baby wort hog and are seen shooting animals that are not fully adults. Many times the crew is shooting from a moving vehicle and can even be seen running down a gazelle. A child on the trip and a man can be seen picking up and chasing baby birds while the mother stands to the side shreeking at them. The abuse is also noted when some animals fail to die after being shot. Occasionally the group gives a proper and immediate kill by shooting the animal again to put it out of its misery. However, other times they can be seen pulling, taunting and poking on the animals while they suffer in pain from a poor shot. All of these things, and more, are in violation of proper hunting standards and regulations.

After receiving the letter from the Dallas Safari Club, Tanzania Ministry revoked the license of the offending safari club. It was noted that the one promotional video alone contained numerous violations of Tanzania big game hunting regulation. The ministry notes the following:

Some of the irregularities committed by the company include, allowing their visitors to hunt wild animals prohibited in the hunting licences contrary to section 19(1)(2) of the Act; visitors playing with young zebras contrary to section 19(1); allowing their visitors to chase and shoot the wildlife animals (Section 56 (1) (a) 1) and hunting under age wild animals (56 (1)). Other mistakes included, allowing children less than 16 years of age to take part in hunting animals (Section 43 (20 (a) and visitors scaring the animals while hunting (Section 19 (1) and (2).

The video is hard to watch, but does outline a growing problem with animal abuse and big game hunting. A teen from Texas was recently under fire for posting images of herself posing happily with animals she had killed on an African hunting trip.

What do you think? Is this one of the worst acts of animal abuse you have seen? What do you think should happen, beyond the revoking of hunting licenses, to the group responsible?