Rich Chinese thrill seekers pay £50,000 for Trip of a Lifetime- to Kill Endangered Polar Be

China’s thrill-seeking nouveau riche are being offered a £50,000 trip of a lifetime – hunting down endangered polar bears, the Daily Mail can reveal. The expensive price tag for the 10-day expedition across the polar ice pack in Canada includes the services of a taxidermist, who at the end of the hunt turns the trophy specimens into prized rugs for the “rookie” hunters’ living rooms. The polar bear is the most extreme of natural enemies in North America,' declares the Beijing-based I Love Hunting Club in its brochure.

After flying first class and acclimatising at their five star hotel, the hunters – super rich Chinese business men and women - set out on dog sleds across the protected polar bear habitats in search of their controversial quarry.

'If you believe the ice caps are melting as some claim, these bears are going to die anyway, so you may as well hunt them'

Trophy hunting appeals to the hundreds of Chinese tycoons keen to pit themselves armed against wild animals armed with a gun. Canada is the only country to allow international, non-native trophy hunters to kill on its soil and approximately 500 polar bears are killed each year. Scientists claimed in 2008 between 20-25,000 remain in the wild. But that number could be cut by two thirds by mid century if the Arctic continues to warm due to climate change, as many experts predict.

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk...

I don't know. Should we here - outside Canada, be complaining about this? Concerned? Mind your own business?

Truth be told, I am a bit torn between Concerned and Mind your own business. Bringing Rich people in before giving the locals a chance?

I wonder how much money folks in the Gov't Agency that oversees the wildlife got paid.

Any ATSer ever hunt the cute white buggers?

Still not sure of what side of the fence to be on about the topic... Check out this aricle from the same paper/day:

Play time for young and old! Polar bears caught mucking about in the snow after a long hibernation
www.dailymail.co.uk...

This upsets me more than Iran having a nuke.


Really its not fair to the Future generations...... Who will never see wildlife??

Maybe the world really is ending.... There is going to be nothing left to save if we just keep killing it all.

I would be totally fine with this as long as they were only allowed to hunt with
a 5 inch hunting knife or a non-compound bow. Give the bears a chance for a nice hot meal.

reply to post by truthinfact


I know, they are like the most beautiful animals. So adorable too.



That's just sad.

Am I the only one who thinks this is retarded?
If an animal is endangered, isn't there a law against hunting them, no matter who does the hunting??

Not to nitpick but Polar Bears are "threatned" not "endangered".

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 defines "endangered" as "any species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range." "Threatened" is defined as "any species which is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range."

.


Also in Canada, the Inuit get quotas of how many Polar bears they can legally hunt. Not saying it's right, just that it has been happening all along.

So how much would it cost to hunt one of these "Rich Chinese thrill seekers"?

Maybe we could all chip in to raise the money, then hold a lottery to see which one of us gets to shoot the b@$!@rds

Unfortunately this is nothing new. When wolves were stil endangered, hunters used to pay 10k to have the wolves rounded up so they could shoot them.

What do I think?

I think its awful. I agree with the person that they only thing they can hunt with is a knife. If they win, well they deserve it.

Polar bears are fascinating creatures. Only land animals that can't be seen with heat radar.

reply to post by anon72


As nixie_nox says, it's nothing new. ...Same thing happened on every continent, with lots of different now endangered or extinct animals - tigers, elephants, jaguars, the list goes on.

Seems the smaller a guy's sexuality, the bigger, shinier trophies he needs.

I'm very saddened by this goes to show ya money can buy just about anything ..There a beautiful animal that should just be left alone before they end up going extinct..peace,sugarcookie1

reply to post by anon72


This brings up a good question on how to bring back animals who are now endangered or threatened.

Let me first say that I fall on the side of animal rights and conservation so please, its just an idea, dont brand me a monster.

The idea? Have private investors buy endangered animals, breed them, cultivate a habitat for them then allow them to be hunted for large amounts of money.

Before you disregard the idea, let me explain.

This is a way for the free market to work FOR animal conservation instead of against it.

Lets take the polar bears for example. An investor buys a group of polar bears and cultivates a habitat for them. They provide safety and an environment in which they can flourish and breed. As they reproduce, a large portion of them are released back into the wild to boost their numbers in the wild and bring them back from being threatened. Another, smaller, portion would be hunted for large amounts of money by thrill seekers. This large amount of money can then be reinvested in the habitat which actually helps the endangered animal population.

This could be used for many endangered species.

What do you think? I know how it sounds initially, but if you think about it, it actually could work.

reply to post by areyouserious2010


The reason they are being hunted is because they are rare, if you mass produce them, then their value drops and people don't feel the "kick" from killing them. Its just like how no one would hunt a pig or chicken..

I like the idea of giving these hunters a 5 inch Knife, if they win, they deserve it, if they lose, the polar bear deserves it.

reply to post by luciddream

The reason they are being hunted is because they are rare, if you mass produce them, then their value drops and people don't feel the "kick" from killing them. Its just like how no one would hunt a pig or chicken..

Well then mission accomplished! Is that not a good thing? Is that not what we were trying to accomplish?

The main problem with animal conservation is that the efforts depend on private donors, who only donate an inadequate amount, and maybe tax dollars from governments which are never enough. With this principle, we have brought a species back from the edge of extinction by using free market principles investment and capitalism.

reply to post by areyouserious2010


Your idea isn't that unorthodox.The biggest contributors to conservation are hunters. Now the anti hunting crowd claims it is so they have something to hunt. But some, not all, I know actually have a pretty healthy respect for nature and animals.

Now this fall I will go hunting for the first time and I am an animal and wildlife advocate. But only because we have a massive overpopulation of white tail,and I rather they be shot then smeared down the interstate by a semi.

The question I have is how is it that natural resources even allows this to happen?

There is a business opportunity here.

If Chinese will pay $50,000 to hunt polar bears i'm sure somebody else will pay more to hunt nouvea rich chinese in a remote location.

I think it is wrong to hunt and end the life of any living creature for sport or entertainment.

It is beyond my comprehension how any human can find it entertaining to shoot and kill another creature.

Every animal on this planet has a right to life, it is not for us to take away that right just because we are bored and want to be entertained.

reply to post by doobydoll

Every animal on this planet has a right to life, it is not for us to take away that right just because we are bored and want to be entertained.

Excellently stated. I hadn't thought of it like that.

Thank you.

Star!

reply to post by doobydoll

I think it is wrong to hunt and end the life of any living creature for sport or entertainment.

It is beyond my comprehension how any human can find it entertaining to shoot and kill another creature.

Every animal on this planet has a right to life, it is not for us to take away that right just because we are bored and want to be entertained.

I understand your point of view. I am merely trying to clarify.

What about killing animals for food?

What about allowing hunting seasons to control the overpopulation of certain animals? (i.e. deer)

What about allowing hunting seasons to control the population of predators which kill domesticated animals and hurt farmers and their herds?

Back on the subject at hand, hunting of polar bears is not why they are a "threatened" species. It is believed to be due to destruction of their natural habitat due to global warming (if you believe in it).
Source

So, conservation action should be taken to foster the polar bear population. The question is how and who will pay for it?

Well, if private investors buy property and invest money to cultivate the land and make them polar bear "reservations," it will be easy to track the number of bears and their health. Once enough bears are "produced" percentages can be released back to the wild to boost the natural population and eventually get it back to normal.

That is the how. But who will pay for it? An endeavor that big cannot count on private donors or government tax money to operate. So, make capitalism work for the animals. Allow the private owners to charge hunters and thrill seekers a market price for hunting a small percentage of the bears. The private owner would track how many bears are being hunted because if all of them are killed, no more money could be made off of them. The private owner can also set certain rules, like not killing females or not killing young bears, to foster the population growth. This way, the bears will pay for themselves.

Believe it or not, hunters are the best animal conservationists. They know the animal and they know the habitat. It seems to be a solution based in reality.

reply to post by anon72


my grand pa back in the late 50's early 60's hunted a polar bear when he was stationed some where in alaska in the military did the whole rug thing(parents still have it) but that was along time ago before they were as endangered as they are now and from what he wrote about it (dont have his journals with me so im paraphrasing) i had gone out to hunt what i felt was the best possible game i could ever hunt armed with a bolt action 30.06 i went out to find this predator and apon finding it think my hunting days are behind me as not once hunting this creature did i fear for my life or feel that i was accomplishing a great feat but merely killing one of natures treasures (paraphrased mind you) so basicly he found the whole thing mildly insulting as he had grown up in texas huntign wild bore with a 45 and a knife so i think he didnt feel it was sporting but i do know they ate all of it and brought it back to base so at least it didnt go to waste so basicly he felt that hunting such creatures with any form of modern weapon(guns modern or otherwise) was unsportsmanlike like and from what my parents told me was one of the last hunts he had ever gone on before he passed in early 70's (screw you Philip Morris)

As a Canadian, I believe I will accept it under one condition.

if the Inuit are given the same rights to hunt the Chinese