It seems there is little love lost for as she has been dubbed the ‘hardcore huntress,’ Melissa Bachman after the Cape Town, South African based TV presenter went on to recently post an image of a lion she killed on twitter and Facebook.
The image goes on to show a toothy smiley Bachman with her hunter’s rifle who just can’t help but show off her latest prize, that of a cherished male lion (yes kids, Melissa has bigger balls than a lion) in the lions natural habitat.
Tweeted Melissa Bachman at the time: ‘An incredible say hunting in South Africa!’ ‘Stalked inside 60 yards on the this beautiful male lion… what a hunt!’
Unfortunately for Melissa the tweet and Facebook post was not at all well received (did she really suspect it would be?) and within hours of the post many had gone on to express their horror and disgust with Bachman to the point that a petition has now been organized to have the government ban Bachman from the country.
As of time of publishing the petition has already reached over 73 000 signatures.
The petition goes on to note that Melissa Bachman ‘has made a career out of hunting wildlife, for pure sport. Her antics are captured extensively on her personal website: She is an absolute contradiction to the culture of conservation, this country prides itself on.’
Bachman’s kill has ignited scorn given the fact that the lion is considered a vulnerable species. Numbers are rapidly declining due to loss of habitat and conflict with humans.
However, hunting lions is legal in several countries, including South Africa where Bachman bagged her big male.
A cursory exploration of Melissa Bachman’s social media pages goes on to show the ‘hardcore huntress’ has an affinity for the kill and a great love of hunting.
The ‘Trophy Room’ section of her website features a grinning Bachman with dead deer, antelope, alligators, turkeys and hogs.
Needless to say the latest furor is not the first time Bachman has run afoul of anti-hunting groups.
Last year, she was slated to appear on the National Geographic Channel‘s Ultimate Survivor Alaska but was dropped after a Change.org petition that called Bachman a ‘contracted trophy killer’ was signed more than 13,000 times in less than 24 hours. Which of course posits the latest posting was Bachman’s way of trying to get even and even taunt her detractors. Which might suggest Bachman doesn’t just enjoy hunting animals but humans too in her own compelling way….
Reacting to the outcry of dissent, Lourens Mostert a manager at the Maroi conservancy where Bachman shot the lion said the hunt was legal.
‘If it isn’t right to hunt these lions, why does out government legally give us permission?’ he told the Daily Telegraph.
‘This is not the only lion that has been hunted in South Africa this year.’
Minnesota-based Bachman, whose blog includes posts such as ‘Why every girl should try bowhunting’ and ‘Stupid hunting regulations I just can’t stand,’ is the host of a television series called Winchester Deadly Passion.
In each episode, Melissa Bachman travels to a locale and hunts its native animals with a variety of weapons including her beloved bow and arrow. One can also imagine she can now attest her Facebook and twitter page as a new kind of weapon too….
And then there was this comment off the web that made me wonder about the challenges of legalized hunting and outlawing it outright:
So, each Hunting Lodge Concession, located outside of, but adjacent to National Parks, allows strictly controlled hunting. Ok. You may not agree with hunting. However, these Hunting Concessions have a second, even more important duty: to kill poachers. In many countries, Game Wardens are allowed to shoot poachers on site. However, Game Wardens are poorly equipped (no money) and often only have a uniform and a gun. No truck. No radio or phone. It is nearly impossible for them to catch poachers in the act. The Hunting Lodges help them. They patrol the borders of the park, and if there are poachers, the Hunting Lodges will kill them.
What’s the difference between the Hunting Lodges and the Poachers? Well, the Lodges sell a tag to a US Hunter for $10,000 – $50,000 depending on the species the hunter wants to attempt to hunt (remember, there is no guarantee they will bag an animal). Part of this money goes to the government for anti-poaching work. Hunting lodges will legally take the one animal allowed. Poachers take everything, all the time. In September 2013, a poaching ring put cyanide into a salt lick – kiling 90 elephants, dozens of antelope, kudu, and predators like lions, hyaena, jackals, hawks and vultures – which ate the dead elephants. That’s the difference.
You may not agree with the concept of hunting. That’s fine. We’re all different. But don’t attack a person for paying to do a legally accepted activity, that does actually help more wildlife in the long view.
By the way, one of my guides in Zimbabwe said this: “Well, now Botswana has made all hunting illegal. That means that there will be no one hunting the poachers. They will get in and decimate the animals in the National Parks. There will be so little wildlife left that the eco-tourism will completely bottom out — and they won’t have any money to try to combat poachers.”
Melissa is obviously a wonderful girl – she enjoys nature and I bet she doesn’t make a house pet out of cats and imprison them their whole lives.
Shes disgusting! Why would you kill animals for fun, your a murderer and you should be shot for fun jus like the rest of the idiots that shoot for fun.
Your argument still has no sense of morality or any basis of respect, respect is treating any creature with care, unconditional care, your view is such a narrow one i almost didnt answer it, “tell the great white that eats a surfer”??? did the shark make its way up the beach down marine parade up the surfers apartment building and chew his leg in bed?? no the surfer chose to enter the water, a place where humans are truly outmatched, and while we are on the subject we catch and fin millions of sharks yearly so i think maybe the sharks are going pretty easy on humans.. “the hippos that kill hundreds? what about the poachers and land developers that force them farther and farther from their native homes making them far more aggressive?” and again we kill more of them per year than even come close to them killing humans. Did Dianna Hanson ask the Lion if it wanted to be trained-No, did Dianna put it in a small enclosure to “simulate” its natural surroundings?-Yes. What if i set up a room with a t.v a toilet a bed and some toys and you stayed in that room almost exclusively for your whole life? i would be weary of you even though you are human, there are very few mammals that do well when isolated.
I feel sad for you, you have such a human outlook on the world you will never see the beauty that comes of knowing something truly wild and being able to leave it to go and live peacefully. there is no score in life like you say, and if there were, humans would definitely be disqualified. Fight for your world not just the patch you “own”
What does feminism have to do with being anti-game hunting, idiot!?
Disgusting. I am from South Africa. Leave our wildlife alone you arrogant bastards – murdering psychopaths, and utterly, utterly ignorant and stupid.
She is a disgusting person…no words for the killings she has done…
First of all, you have no proof that animals have emotions. You want to talk respect… Tell the great white that eats a surfer or the Hippo’s that kill more than 200 humans per year to respect another living creature. We are all part of the food chain, period. Did the lion that attacked its trainer (Dianna Hanson) respect that person as it killed her? The lions got one & humans got one…. the score is even today.
And thats the mentality that will drive humans from this earth (which i think cant happen soon enough) You are right they dont have human emotion they have animal emotion and who are you to say which is to have precedence? it has nothing to do with our emotions it has to do with the basic respect of another living creature Period.
If they are all so much smarter than us, why is it so easy to shoot there dumb ass and eat them, since you don’t have a clue what your talking about, go tell it to someone who cares about you opinion.
Thank god there women in the world like her and not all are feminist cunts, if you don’t like it then shut up and stop looking. She has the right to hunt and you don’t have the right to stop her, I’m sure she is a lot better looking than all the skanks bitching about it, go eat your thanksgiving turkey and pretend it grew like that, stupid people saying stupid stuff just waste the air we need to live.
Wow… that is horrible… for anybody to kill such beautiful and majestic creatures outside of self preservation, such as for food or protecting themselves, should be a crime… I almost dare to say I would like to see the animal kneeling and smiling over their lifeless corpse
Animals are animals…. Not human. Don’t put human emotion on animals because they don’t have them. I am sure you are just as disgusted when you sit down for Turkey or ham dinner during the holiday’s.
You don’t think the duck dynasty guys actually kill ducks… They do. They also make calls that help kill millions of animals per year (which I am good with). The lion meat was given to locals. Nothing was wasted. Animals are animals… not human. Don’t put human emotions on animals because they don’t have those. For example, a lion will eat the cubs they’ve spawned and a human father isn’t likely to do that.
It has been proven that 95% of. Eye radians have a higher IQ than people who are not and this woman is scraping the bottom of the gene pool. And you’re telling me you need to have controlled hunting to patrol borders ? Really how about doing something for your country, humanity and animals and just patrol them because you can…sorry but with species becoming extinct around the world. This is unacceptable. Besides the fact she doesn’t ” hunt ” anything . Like Duck Dynasty it’s all a set up… Besides is shooting an animal from 60 yards away with a high powered rifle really hunting ? Especially with the lion being guided towards her ? Bunch of crap !
that’s bunk Donna. You don’t agree with it well fine, then don’t do it. That’s the favorite remark these days. She pays to do it. She does it legal. You and all the rest can get over yourselves and STOP budding you noses into someone else’s life. I don’t hunt. But I don’t care who does as long as they do it legally.
All of her posts are disgusting. Don’t candy coat it make it sound glamorous,by calling her a huntress. She’s an animal killer. There is no reason for big game hunting of this nature ever.