Louis Theroux journeys to the centre of the controversial South African hunting industry. It’s big business, attracting thousands of holiday hunters annually. Keeping wild animals fenced in on farms has made it cheaper and easier to hunt than ever before, but Louis discovers that this industry, instead of endangering species, has actually increased animal numbers.
Staying at a safari hunting lodge, Louis hears that each kill has a price. The potential shopping list is endless, ranging from $250 for a porcupine to $100,000 for a rhino. It’s a hunter’s paradise.
This is a very popular tourist attraction – particularly among Americans. Louis meets such visitors and tries to understand their motivation to kill for pleasure, joining them as they go hunting.
He meets novice hunter Ann-Marie, who originally only came to accompany her husband but gets caught up in the excitement and decides she wants to try to hunt an animal herself. She tells Louis that, apparently, your first kill is a total rush – although she would worry about killing a zebra as it’s too much like a horse.
Two of the local landowners, Piet Venter and Piet Warren, breed animals for hunting and have a perhaps surprising sensitivity towards the animals they’ve raised. They take particular care to try to ensure any animal is killed swiftly so they suffer minimal trauma. Former vet Lolly Fourie, who allows hunting on his land, explains how he no longer hunts as he gets no pleasure from it nowadays.
Hearing their arguments in favour of the industry, Louis arranges to go on a hunt of his own. Unsure if he really can pull the trigger, as he looks at a wart-hog down the arrow of a crossbow he faces his beliefs head on and must make the decision…
I hope these idiots have been mauled by the animals they didnt slaughter for fun
Louis Theroux was a bias idiot through out the whole doc. He rarely acknowledge the valuable contribution this has had to conservation or that these animals have better lives than those factory farm animals he eats. So all he did was repeatedly say ‘don’t you feel bad’ as if being squeamish meant he had some sort of moral high ground. The final line really summed it up “he will eat the meat but not kill it”. So while these guys are are eating animals that were free and quickly killed, Louis will be eating battery farmed chicken that has suffered their whole lives before arriving on his plate. English hypocrite. (oh and that also goes for those idiot comments from Dikotomii & Jason Williams)
Weird? No thanks I’ll shoot with my camera instead. A Zebra? A Baboon? The problem is you don’t want this stuff getting too popular. The demand for ivory nearly wiped out all the wild elephants. If everyone wanted “trophy animals?” Africa we would be in even bigger trouble than it is now. I don’t agree with it in this day and age. At least they are not poaching but I think the general attitude towards wild animals needs to change. Especially in Africa.
The planet can not support this kind of attitude on mass. Alot of people cannot afford these kinds of things and they will poach to be like these guys. So I don’t agree with it especially in Africa. It does not look like a sport nor a challenge, it basically looks easy? I’d rather observe than destroy these beautiful creatures. I don’t see the appeal at all?
Give me a Canon with a zoom lens anyday.
Lol hunting a zebra….its like hunting a horse hahahha. Very dangerous prey ha ha ha
And I assume all you critics are vegans, have never eaten duck liver, veal or venison in any way. Always buy free range eggs/lamb/beef. You have never trapped a rat/mouse in your house or got an pest control company to do it for you. I assume none of you have fish in tanks or birds in coops? None of you goes fishing or buys fish If that is so I can understand your distress, but at the moment you sound like a bunch of moaning hypocrits . And before you comment. I am not a hunter.
I agree with you. Reading their comments makes me think they are women who have never been outside of their state/city. Never had to do catch something with their hands. Solve problems.
Anyways
So you hunt all of your food? And how is shooting a fucking Zebra necessary in any way for survival? You sound like a ‘good ol’ boy’ who isn’t intelligent enough to have any hobbies other than killing something.
women?
I would probably like to see all these cowardly hunted animals free, minding their business, living their lives. I can´t find any pleasure in killing or “hunting”. I feel sorry for Theroux for having to deal with these hunters and terrible scenes…
This is not hunting. If they want to hunt get off a farm and put your feet and ass on the line
go after Cape Buff with a spear.
No one individual hunts cape buffalo with a spear.
there are a couple of african tribes that do
It is horrible to an extent. The highlight of the entire documentary starts at 52:25. This is why I like Louis Therout in a way. He prys like a cow-eyed bafoon until he gets the person to snap or turn away in silence. Then the truth comes out in unsweetened jagged little pieces to be the highlight of the entire video. What the rancher said inside the loft can be applied to so many things our society bitches about.
Wow, what a bunch of pear-shaped losers (to quote Seinfeld). Or cowards. Take your pick. Morons with guns with scopes shooting wild animals like zebras. That is sport? We need more hunting accidents. Seriously. Theroux talks about a hunters paradise. Let me tell you about my paradise. It is where gun-toting idiots can be put on an island (like the one from LOST) and shoot each other and do us all a favor and help cleanse the gene pool of overchlorination.
amen!
Sound was out of sinc but if you can handle that it’s a fine documentary, horrible way to treat animals.