Big-Game Hunter Killed by Buffalo During Safari

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08/08/2025 12:23

Subject: Big-Game Hunter Killed by Buffalo During Safari

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Anonymous

This situation brings up interesting questions about the morality of game hunting, the utility of it, as well as the motivations behind it.

I know that big game hunters like this guy and their defenders claim that their hunting safaris create jobs and help cull herds that need to be culled. All of this in the name of 'conservation'. It is an interesting twist in logic even if somewhat true.

I am not going to argue about the need to keep certain breeds in check because I really do not know the science behind that or the truth about it. For example I know there is a huge deer overpopulation in parts of the US. I do wonder though how much of that justification is used to allay the consciences of these hunters (by both the guides and the hunters) in order to get them to come over to Africa to kill these animals/help their economy. If the animals really need to be 'culled', I would assume there are safer and more humane ways to do it - but a lot less money would change hands. These hunters say they care very much about 'conservation' and the animals but I doubt they would donate the same amount of money for those specific purposes. They are paying for the thrill and trophy and to satisfy something really primal, I think.

Anyway, thoughts?

A wealthy big-game hunter from Texas was killed on Sunday when a Cape buffalo that he had been eying for his next trophy attacked him during a safari in South Africa, according to the company that arranged the expedition.

The victim, Asher Watkins, 52, a Dallas real estate executive who sold ranches, was pursuing one of the horned buffaloes in Limpopo Province, the northernmost province in South Africa, when the attack happened, Coenraad Vermaak Safaris said in an email on Thursday.

A mature Cape buffalo bull can weigh nearly 2,000 pounds, the company’s website says, cautioning that it is not unusual for buffaloes to charge hunters without provocation and that “no species on the planet has a more fearsome reputation.”

The aggressive temperament of the Cape buffalo has earned it a nickname: black death.

“Asher was fatally injured in a sudden and unprovoked attack by an unwounded buffalo he was tracking together with one of our professional hunters and one of our trackers,” Hans Vermaak, whose family runs the safari company, said in a statement.

Link to full NYT story: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/world/africa/big-game-hunter-killed-buffalo-safari-south-africa.html?