There are two kinds of people in this world: those who respect wildlife and don’t kill lions for fun, and Kendall Jones.
Jones, a 19-year-old Texas Tech cheerleader and my new least favorite person, has recently come under fire for her controversial Facebook page. The page contains gruesome pictures of Jones hunting big game in Africa. She has several photos of herself posing with the animals she’s killed, including an elephant, a lion, a leopard, a zebra, and a hippo. I would provide a link to her page, but to be honest, I don’t feel like giving this girl any more of that type of attention.
Look, I get it. Okay, no, I don’t get it. Whether or not you support hunting, shooting down endangered African species is pretty messed up. I don’t understand what would make a person feel the need to trophy hunt exotic animals so she can cash in from people who are willing to sponsor it, and then garner attention on social media. Jones claims that her hunts involved a “fair chase.” That’s cute. You know what would be more fair? If you took away her guns, cars, and protective figures. That sounds pretty fair to me. How in the hell do you expect a lion to defend itself against a bullet?
It’s worth noting that, in Africa, “hunting” lions isn’t actually much of a hunt. Especially because of safaris, lions have grown used to cars and people. Just so you have a clear picture, this guy explains how fucked up it is to kill a lion in an official game park in South Africa. He even takes selfies with the big cats so show how vicious and threatening they are (not).
The problem here is that Jones boasts about killing rare animals online and then claims to be a conservationist. These claims are actually why she’s facing such harsh criticism. While she might think the funds from the hunt are helpful to Africa’s government, it is very obvious that the Facebook page is nothing but an egotistical tribute to herself. Promoting animal cruelty isn’t cool. Jones defends herself by saying that she is working to “control the lion population,” which is legitimately one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. She claims that photos are a testament to her hunting skills and dedication to game preservation.
That’s nice, Kendall, but we don’t give a shit about how good of a hunter you think you are. What we do care about, however, is that near-endangered leopard you thought would be fun to kill and then hug for the worst photo op ever. Furthermore, you should probably take a hint that what you’re doing is wrong, because aside from the petition to get your page off Facebook, there is a separate one originating from South Africa that hopes to ban you from the country completely. Yeah, they hate you, too.
The petition to remove Kendall’s page from Facebook already has over 50,000 signatures after just one week. I’m not going to say that I signed it, but I definitely signed it.
When it comes down to it, Jones is just a spoiled, American hunter who traveled to Africa to hunt exotic wildlife under the façade of “conservation.” She apparently hopes to host a TV show about hunting, and is trying to get there by killing and exploiting helpless, endangered species and gaining popularity on Facebook. If you ask me, slaughtering endangered species to reap the benefits of “likes” on Facebook and trying to get a television deal is pretty much the worst thing you can do. Take a lap, Jones.
[via Mail Online]
Images via Buzzfeed