The support and criticism of Kendall Jones, a Texas university cheerleader who features her big game hunting adventures on Facebook has grown exponentially within the week as her story has been picked up by the mainstream media.
Advertisement - story continues below
She recently thanked all of her supporters for “their continued encouragement and backing!” Jones wrote “I will continue to hunt and spread the knowledge of hunting and wildlife conservation.”
She also wrote on her facebook page:
Stop the censors, sign up to get today's top stories delivered right to your inbox
“Why has the southern white rhino fared better than the other species and what can we learn from this? Economics provides the answer! White rhino conservation efforts were driven by South Africa, which has developed a vibrant market economy for wildlife within the last 50 years.
Jones then went on to explain that this economy rests on three pillars:
Advertisement - story continues below
1. Recognizing and actively developing legal markets for things that people value about rhinos, such as tourist viewing and trophy hunting
2. Allowing private landowners to legally own rhinos, thereby giving them strong direct incentives to manage them responsibly
3. Enabling all landowners (private, communal or public) to retain the money they earn from selling live rhinos and rhino products, thus making rhinos a lucrative long-term investment”“Why has the southern white rhino fared better than the other species and what can we learn from this? Economics provides the answer!”
The 19-year-old also posted this photo of President Theodore Roosevelt, who she said “has been labeled by many as the Father of Conservation.”
Advertisement - story continues below
“He helped create and establish the United States Forestry Service, which would later become the National Forest Service. Roosevelt created five national parks (doubling the previously existing number); signed the landmark Antiquities Act and used its special provisions to unilaterally create 18 national monuments, including the Grand Canyon; set aside 51 federal bird sanctuaries, four national game refuges, and more than 100 million acres’ worth of national forests.
“But he was a hunter too, right? He killed the same species that hunters now chase today under a mound of anti-hunting pressure. Yet, how can it be possible that someone can love the earth, and take from the Earth in the name of conservation? For some folks, they’ll never understand. For the rest of us…we were born that way. God Bless Teddy,” Jones wrote.
Do you agree with Kendall that hunting big game actually helps the various species thrive, or do you think it’s wrong?
Advertisement - story continues below
[Image source – Kendall Jones / Facebook]
