KALI DAVIE

ENG 3413

PROFESSOR WALKER

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO

DON’T BITE THE HAND THAT SHOOTS YOU:LION TROPHY HUNTING

 SCRIPT - ​Don’t bite the hand that shoots you

FADE IN:

EXT. Desk with a screen in the background

Somewhere in the JPL of UTSA, a girl sits in front of some city

background, probably downtown San Antonio. An image of a mounted
lion head sits in the background in the top left of the screen.

DISSOLVE TO:

Kali

Trophy hunting can be traced back to the late 19th century with
many images depicting the smiling faces of the giddy hunters
symbolizing their great triumphs. Today these similar images
spark outrage across the public thanks to social media and the
killing of a beloved lion Cecil (and later his son Zanda)
protests are now on high to help put a stop to this lucrative
African business. (1)

EXT. PAN TO NEWS FOOTAGE OF TROPHY HUNTING AND PUBLIC OUTRAGE

(2)
 Kali

Cecil was not the first lion to be killed but he was a very
important lion. The American dentist and trophy hunting crew
coaxed the great beast out of his sanctuary in Zimbabwe by
tempting him with food
While “following the scent of a potential meal” He was shot with
a bow and arrow then followed for two days before finally being
shot with a firearm. Dr. Palmer allegedly paid $54,000 for the
opportunity to hunt Cecil. The long term study he was apart of
with Oxford researchers was cut short at that moment.

“ IS THIS A JOKE? At least have the decency to shoot him the

first day instead of letting him bleed out for two
days...clearly palmer had enough money to get a decent gun if he
could pay that much for a lion hunt.” (3)

EXT. PAN TO NEWS FOOTAGE OF CECIL AND PUBLIC OUTRAGE OF HIS

DEATH (4)

Kali

“Many trophy hunters will argue that they are the “true
conservationist” with the slogan “if it pays it stays” hunters
fight back. (5)
EXT. PAN TO TROPHY HUNTERS TALKING ABOUT THE HUNT (6)

Kali

--- WTF does that even mean?! Animals were staying perfectly
fine before we decided to invade their lands and mess with them
---

“Trophy hunters have a couple of main arguments as to why trophy

hunting is more beneficial than harmful to the lions.They claim
to...

1. Give back to the surrounding people in need

2. Help the Lion population by targeting the weaker animals
3. Help put a stop to poaching argument by eliminating the
animals the poachers would target

It turns out that the “conservation” these hunters speak of

actually only gives back 3% to the communities when they claim
to give back 100% of the funds earned on the hunts. However,
many of these local villages never see these so-called
benefits... (7)
EXT. PAN TO NEWS FOOTAGE ABOUT COMMUNITIES, BENEFITS & LENGTHY
PRICE TAG OF A LION HUNT (8)

Kali

--- There are so many other hobbies these rich white people can
take up like maybe skydiving ---

So there you go, folks, the money seen in this lucrative trophy
hunting business never make it to these villages in need, the
 funds often stay at the top with the people who run the trophy
hunting game.

--- Locals can make just as much money by allowing people to

come look and the animals and I don’t know MAYBE NOT FUCKING
SHOOTING THEM --- Let’s see if the other claims stand up from
trophy hunters (9)

EXT. PAN TO NEWS FOOTAGE AND INTERVIEW OF TARGET ON LARGE

IMPRESSIVE ANIMALS (10)
 Kali

--- OHHHH I see so #2 was a lie as well hmm ---

Trophy hunters in fact target the largest and most impressive

lions to take back home and place in their man caves.

--- Which makes sense because these rich cowards have to shoot
something impressive to make for something they lack --- (11)

EXT. PAN TO TALK ABOUT ANTI POACHING EFFECTS (12)

Not all “conservation efforts” are used for good the wild lion
population has seen a decline of 80% in the last 20 years and we
have seen a spike in the lion bone trade as well as imported
trophies. Tiger bones can no longer being sold into the bone
trade because they are being pushed into extinction and have
been placed on the endangered animals list.protected! However,
lions are now a substitute.

--- Jesus when will it end? Trophy hunters are just as bad as
the poachers, their efforts don’t eliminate poaching they have
morphed it into something more profitable and less messy ---
(13)
EXT. PAN TO CANNED HUNTING CLIPS (14)

Kali

Bread for the gun! (and some other stuff to get money) With the
high demand for lions “conservation facilities” have begun mass
breeding the lion population. All that is really needed to start
a lion breeding farm is the land and a couple of lions. This is
the real cherry on top. Listen to this...

Canned hunting facilities claim to be huge conservation

locations where lions are bred to repopulate in the wild, but
none of these lions are actually ever released.

Lions are plucked from their mother's hours from being born and
placed into the hands of foreign animal-loving volunteers
believing they are doing good work. These lions are treated like
puppies. These conservation facilities also allow people to come
in and pet baby lions and have the opportunity to walk with
lions. Once a lion can no longer be used in these ways the lions
are sold to the highest bidder to be mounted on the wall.
 --- is this pimpin’? Are they pimpin’ the lions? ---(15)

EXT. PAN TO CANNED HUNTING CLIPS (16)

--- A lion is the only animal that is used throughout all stages
in its life ( which is kinda relatable ) ---

So why exactly is this still legal while many places do have

limits on trophy hunting, but money is the motivation. In
theory, the money made from the hunts goes back to the wild lion
populations as well as other endangered species, the problem is
the industry is so large and corrupt it is hard to get in and
start to make a change. Canned hunting has no conservation
purposes with the spike in 200+ lion breeding facilities. Where
will it really end... (17)

EXT. END OF SEGMENT SKIT

BEGINS (18)

--- the click of a gun can be

heard as the camera pans to a
trophy hunter aiming his gun
right from me (the lion) ---
 Kali

Wait what is happening...what is going on…

---the red target is aimed at my head and a shot is heard as the

screen goes black --- (19)

EXT. THE HUNTER HAS TAKEN OVER THE NEWSCAST (20)

Random Trophy Hunter

So there you have it trophy hunting in a nutshell so don’t bite

the hand that shoots you.(21)

EXT. ENDING SLIDE SEQUENCE (22)

Kali & Trophy Hunter

To find out more about the lion trophy hunting and canned lion
trade click here ----> insert links
To support the conservation efforts and help end canned hunting
click the link below ---> insert a link to Bloodlions.org (23)
 FADE OUT.
Provide the ending citations from the research.
Literacy Reflection

When looking into this topic it really uncovered something that I never expected. The
lion Trophy hunting industry is truly lucrative and so deeply rooted that without a call to action
that problem can never be solved. I viewed various news sites as well as information videos
showing the horrific conditions these lions are raised in.
There is a difference between hunting and trophy hunting. Hunting is used for population
control and conservation purposes in areas where the animals may off balance the habitat. These
hunters are trained to kill in one shot. Trophy hunters don’t necessarily know what they are
doing, for the most part these hunters are rich businessmen who want to have an interesting story
to tell their friends or maybe an adrenaline rush. In traditional hunting the animal has the
advantage in their environment and if you don’t shoot anything that day, tough, try again later. In
trophy hunting that animal has no control over their environment because often times the lion is
placed in a small enclosure and drugged to make the hunt simpler.
The trophy hunters claim they are conserving the lion population but in reality if one
male lion is eliminated from his pride a new male lion will talk over and kill off the cubs -
Therefore the hunters are actually killing six lions at a time. So they say to protect the wild lion
population they have developed canned hunting lion breeding farms.
Canned hunting is an entire process starting off young by stripping the cubs from their
mothers so that she can produce another cub. They pay no attention to the overall health of the
animals, which leads to genetic deformities and mutations. Some lion cubs are unable to walk,
however these facility owners don’t care because their bones can be sold to China for a quick
buck.
These lions are basically raised as pets. Volunteers from all over the world flock to Africa
with the idea that their time is impaction conservation, however they are actually causing more
harm than good. These volunteers spend almost every waking hour with these cubs serving as a
surrogate mother. The cubs are then used in lion cub petting attractions. Once the cubs are too
big to remain in the baby facilities, don’t worry they can be used to make cash in other ways.
The cubs are placed into the “walking with lions attraction” where guests can pay $80 per person
to walk with tame lions. Once the lions are too big to be in this facility they are placed on a
trophy hunting website to be auctioned off. Once a lion has been selected to be hunted they are
drugged and placed in a small gated enclosure where they will meet their end.
I believe my script provided ample evidence into this shocking practice. My script wet
from taking a more joking approach to an angry approach, criticizing the hunters and making fun
of them specifically. The tone is sarcastic and derogatory towards the hunters and their practices.
For the materials used in the video production I will be renting materials for the UTSA library,
and editing the video in iMovie. I have also found a template to use for my intro to the
newscast/informational clip. I will be utilizing a call to action sense about the whole video to
raise awareness about the situation and encourage people to do their own research on the topic.
I’m not sure how and where I want to weave in the wild lion populations 2000 wild lions
and show the number in captivity spiking from 600 - 8000. This problem keeps the lions off the
endangered species list however the amount of wild lions is low enough to harbor actions. The
call to action is to raise awareness about the issue and push the government to place lions on the
endangered species list. Once this is done the practice of bringing over lion trophies will not
longer be legal thus knocking out 50% of the Trophy hunting revenue. I urge people to look
further into the topic by taking the websites I attached and doing their own research. Together we
can put an end to Trophy hunting and save these lions.
Works Cited

(2019, September 10). Retrieved October 21, 2019, from ​https://youtu.be/z48HiV6qKGc​.

Anderson, T., & Regan, S. (2015, August 10). How Trophy Hunting Can Save Lions. ​Wall
Street Journal,​ p. 13. Retrieved from ​http://search.proquest.com/docview/1702331076/

Home. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.friendsofanimals.org/stop-trophy-hunting-money-doesnt-make-it-ok/​.

Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) Taxonomic revision of Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae,

Boraginales). Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e7720. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7720.
(n.d.). Doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f

I Trophy Hunt. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.itrophyhunt.com/.

Joppa, L., & Hutton, J. (2012). Trophy hunting of lions in West Africa. ​BiologicalConservation,​
149​(1), 143–143. ​https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2012.02.010

Karyl Whitman, Anthony M. Starfield, Henley S. Quadling, & Craig Packer. (2004).Sustainable
trophy hunting of African lions. ​Nature,​ ​428(​ 6979), 175–178.
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02395

Macdonald, D. W., Loveridge, A. J., Dickman, A., Johnson, P. J., Jacobsen, K. S., & Preez, B.
D.
(2017). Lions, trophy hunting and beyond: knowledge gaps and why they matter.​Mammal
Review​, ​47​(4), 247–253. doi: 10.1111/mam.12096

Novacic, I. (2019, June 7). "He was delicious": Trophy hunters defend killing iconic animals.
Retrieved from ​https://www.cbsnews.com/​news/trophy-hunting-killing-
or-conservation-cbsn-originals/.

Young, B. (Screenwriter), Chevallier, N., Michler, I., Swazey, R., Regulus Vision (Firm),
Wildlands Conservation Trust, & PBS Distribution (Firm) (Directors), & Hankinson, P.,
& Nathan, J. (Producers). (2016). ​Blood lions​ [Video file]. PBS Distribution.