Colorado hunter posing with bloody hands after shooting mountain lion condemned

6
16
Spread the love

A Colorado hunter who proudly posed with bloodied hands after shooting a mountain lion has been condemned by wildlife groups as a “sadistic killer.” Franchesca Esplin killed the animal in December and wrote how the “bucket list” experience left her feeling on “cloud 9.”

Wildlife group Prairie Protection Colorado reshared the photos on Wednesday, calling Esplin a sociopathic trophy hunter. Photos showed Esplin picking up the mountain lion’s lifeless body showing her manicured fingernails coated with the animal’s blood. A short video caught the woman shooting the cat that had been trying to escape perched fearfully in a tree.

“Let’s all remember that we have a responsibility to protect wildlife that is being rapidly extinguished as a result of habitat fragmentation, human growth and hunting pressure on predators. These sports hunters are, once again, claiming that they have a “duty” to kill to keep us safe and to keep wildlife “balanced.” If any of you sports hunters are watching this post, maybe you should pay attention to research that clearly shows that killing predators causes more problems then it will ever solve,” the group posted on their Facebook page.

Animal advocates and activists with the grassroots advocacy group, pointed out that Esplin used dogs to tree the mountain lion with GPS technology and then rushed over to shoot the trapped lion that had desperately tried to escape the trained hunting dogs.

“This is no way was a ‘fair hunt.’ This kill was unethical and even though she says she ate the lion, that does not make this anymore than a sadistic trophy kill,” posted the group.

“Trophy kills are characterized by the ‘complete glee and elation [expressed by hunters] at the kills they’ve performed and go against the ethical means of hunting which should be for survival and food,” explained Deanna Meyer, executive director for the Prairie Protection Colorado.

According to the Department of Colorado Parks and Wildlife, hunting for mountain lions is legal, however hunters need a lion license and only one bobcat can be hunted each season. Esplin’s hunt was legal.

Once the photos went viral on Facebook, Esplin deleted most of her social media accounts, and as of Thursday afternoon stated she had been receiving threats. The Prairie Protection Colorado posted a message stating they did not intentionally target Esplin, but rather the “mentality of trophy hunters.”

“Anyone who would glory in the blood of an animal they kill has some cleary {sic} sociopathetic tendencies,” the post stated. “Ethical hunters feel reverence and a sense of responsibility to the animals whose lives they take for subsistence. They do not proudly display the ‘trophy’ of the animal they killed and exclaim that the kill had been on their ‘bucket list forever.'”

The advocacy group hopes to educate people and then change legislation to protect what is left of the species. They are supporting a petition with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to make the hunting and trapping of bobcats illegal.

(Photos Facebook)

Follow the National Pet Rescue on Facebook for the latest animal related news.

 

Old dog gets a birthday treat


Amazing recovery


Spread the love

6 COMMENTS

  1. HER TOMBSTONE SHOULD PROUDLY READ “I SHOT AN INNOCENT ANIMAL FROZEN AND COWERING IN A TREE!”

    COMPLETE YOUR BUCKET LIST QUICKLY SO WHEN YOU DIE–HOPEFULLY WITH THE HELP OF HUNGRY WILD ANIMALS–YOU CAN CLAIM YOUR SPECIAL PLACE IN HELL!

  2. Too bad the poor lion had no chance to eliminate that POS b***h from the planet. Instead, the piece of filth chose to use dogs and a GPS tracker like the coward she is in order to kill her victim. I truly hope that the next time she ‘hunts’ someone, that someone has an even chance. PLEASE.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here