When my wife Natalie (@NatalieDiScala) sent me this National Post story about television host Melissa Bachman’s boast about lion kill on Twitter, my blood started to boil, just reading the headline. Then, when I clicked the link and saw the photo of her standing next to a dead lion with a shotgun and an ear-to-ear smile, I felt an burning anger that quickly turned into rage.

Micato-Safaris-Kenya-Africa-Olare-Mara-Kempinski-Masai-Mara-2013-0201-910x606I have never heard of this woman but I can tell you already that I don’t like her … especially since I myself have just recently returned from an African safari – the right kind, where the animals are only shot with cameras, not guns.

Micato-Safaris-Kenya-Africa-Olare-Mara-Kempinski-Masai-Mara-2013-1271-910x633On safari, we would rise early in the morning and drive all over the bumpy terrain in search of lions. A pride or just one – we just wanted to see these majestic creatures in their natural habitat. Fortunately, we saw lions a few times in Kenya and once in Tanzania. We learned there weren’t many lions around at all, which is why they were so difficult to spot but seeing them was, no doubt, the highlight of the trip. We sat there quietly observing them for a few minutes each time we spotted them, careful not to disturb them. Watching the grown female lions frolic and play with their cubs is something I will never forget. Unfortunately, seeing this image of Melissa Bachman smugly grinning from ear to ear with her kill is something I too will never forget.

Serengeti-Balloon-Safaris-Tanzania-Micato-Safaris-June-2013-0021-910x603One morning around 4:45am, as we drove to go on an incredible hot air balloon safari in Tanzania, we spotted a lion and a lioness just sitting on the side of the road. Everyone in the van had their mouths hanging wide open in disbelief at what we were seeing. These two amazingly beautiful animals, just hanging out in the wild. But to think that because of Melissa Bachman and her unscrupulous attitude towards these innocent creatures, there’s now one less lion in the world, makes me more than angry.

I understand the need to hunt for population control, but a lion? This is an outright travesty and must stop.

You can help by signing a petition, posted by the government of South Africa to deny Melissa Bachman future entry to the country. According to the petition, “[Bachman] is an absolute contradiction to the culture of conservation this country prides itself on. Her latest Facebook post features her with a lion she has just executed and murdered in our country. As tax payers we demand she no longer be granted access to this country and its natural resources.”

Please sign the petition here: Petition to deny Melissa Bachman future entry to South Africa.

14 Comments On "American TV host Melissa Bachman boasts about lion kill on Twitter, sparking outrage"
  1. BlondeBrunetteTravel|

    I signed it and will post it on our FB page too.

  2. Mark|

    Why don’t you spend your time and effort going after the South African camps that allow these hunts rather than a single hunter? And if you are so against it, go after the ones that are here in the US, particularly in Texas.

  3. Debbra Dunning Brouillette|

    I signed the petition and hope it helps. I agree that this must stop! Seeing things like this is so heartbreaking. I love big cats and all animals. How anyone could be proud to take the like of this beautiful animal is beyond my comprehension.

  4. Paul|

    I signed the petition. SO and I are going on a Micato safari next year. Just last week they sent me a Nat Geo video narrated by Jeremy Irons about the last big cats in Africa, and how poaching, hunting and human encroachment has decimated their numbers.

    To see some twat boasting about killing a lion (or any animal) for “sport” sickens me. Just what perverted sense of entitlement allows people to justify killing anything for “sport”?

  5. Tiiu Leek Jacobson|

    Signed and shared. This nasty woman needs to be off the air, not allowed into Africa nor allowed anywhere near animals. Sadly the weapons of man, or in this case woman, are no match for unsuspecting wildlife from afar.

  6. Chuck|

    BTW, it’s not a shotgun. I believe it is a .375 H&H Magnum caliber hunting rifle used by Melissa Bachman. BTW, I did a Google photo search on “safari hunting in Africa”. Here’s a strange observation. It is always some “well-to-do” white person posing as the hunter of these poor animals.

  7. SOLTATIO|

    As a South African I think this practice is appalling. But it is a well known issue that the government of South Africa allows despite outcries from the public. Sort of like Whale hunting in Japan. People protest and boycott it but the government still issues permits to hunt the whales. I’d appreciate it if you could edit the article to show that the petition is not BY the government of South Africa, but a petition REQUESTING that the Government of South Africa deny her entry in the future. Otherwise it seems like the Government of South Africa is trying to stop this when they actually have a hand in allowing this practice to continue. Thanks for the great blog.

  8. wgchinn|

    Hunting of any animal is a matter of personal ethics. Does the lion’s death mean more than a quail, goat, salmon, boar, horse, or cow’s? So while your personal values are anti-hunting there are good folks who understand why animals are hunted, whether it may only be for sport, thinning the population in a particular area, supporting the people in the region, etc. If you believe that the hunting was illegal by all means continue, but otherwise try to understand why others don’t practice your beliefs. Try to research why Ms. Bachman could do what she did. If you don’t accept the practice then refrain from traveling to those countries vocally, but your petition to prevent Ms. Bachman’s future travel seems unfair. From a non-hunter by ethics, but a pistol/rifle/camera target shooter.

  9. wgchinn|

    Doing my own research I found this from ABC News. Here is an excerpt from the article:

    “The hunt where Bachman killed the lion was conducted on the land of the Maroi Conservancy. The conservancy is based in the Limpopo province in South Africa and their motto is “conservation through sustainable hunting.”

    The conservancy defended the hunt on its Facebook page today, saying that all food and funds from these kinds of hunts go to the local community and that the hunting is ethically done “per guidelines from Nature Conservation.”

    “We are not apologising for facilitating the hunt,” the post reads. “If you are not a game farmer and struggling with dying starving animals, poaching and no fences in place to protect your animals and crop, please refrain from making negative degoratory[sic] comments.” ”

    Ms. Bachman was identified as a professional big game hunter in multiple other sources.

    From NRA resources, there are more lions in South Africa that there were 100 years ago. The lion killed was on open land.

  10. Jodi|

    Another example of SA’s government failing dismally!

    This petition will never work because it would mean government will be admitting their own wrong doing. What is disgusting is that the Melissa Bachmans of this world don’t think. Our government screws just about everything up, it doesn’t mean we take part! Absolutely disgusting!

  11. Marla|

    This despicable woman has killed another lion’s partner – the father of cubs and perhaps the leader of his pride. This photo outraged me and brought me to tears. But it is no accident that this photo went viral because it is a movement whose time has come- this is a call to arms for the sanctity of animals – for our responsibility to care and protect animals from harm and from being forced to live miserable lives at the hands of humans. Each animal – every living creature has the capacity for love – knows fear and like us, wants to feel safe. This monstrous act has thankfully been photographed in such a way that it is impossible not to react – and in doing so, we may all develop an empathy for the beautiful living creatures we share this planet with. Let animal rights please be the next fully embraced movement and let this beautiful lion not to have been slaughtered – murdered – in vain.

    1. Joanne DiBona|

      Marla most eloquently expressed the outrage our entire family felt at viewing this appalling photo. Above all, thank you Johnny, for bringing this to our attention. We will definitely be signing the petition.

  12. Hal|

    For a different slant on trophy hunting in Africa read this article:

    http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2013-11-19-in-defence-of-a-lion-killer/#.Uo0oqMSkqQC

    Some of the statistics are startling, such as ” In 1960, there were only three game farms in South Africa. There were only half a million head of game. Changes in the law to permit private ownership of game and commercialize big game hunting coincided with the sea change that we see today: 10,000 game farms, supporting 20 million head of game on as many hectares. By contrast, the government formally protects only 7.5 million hectares as national parks.” and “In Kenya, hunting was banned in the late 1970s, but it has since lost 85% of its wildlife.”

    If people want to petition the South African government to do something about protecting animals the petition should be to greatly increase its anti-poaching efforts (much of which is funded by hunting license fees; Bachman’s lion license cost her about $30,000) and impose much greater jail sentences on poachers.

  13. Anonymous|

    This woman ist not a person, sie is a killer of animals. I heat this monster.
    It must stop right now.

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