Hunters Burn Hunting Gear, Vow to Stop Killing Wildlife

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Animal activists in Iran celebrated a major success. 19 hunters gave up their animal killing ways and encouraged their peers to do the same.

“Hunting is out of control, and it’s destroying our wildlife,” said Hossein Ahmadi, a hunter for three decades who has now sworn off the habit. “That’s why I and other hunters decided to set an example by taking an oath to stop killing all animals.”

The decision came after a local environmental organization, Chya, met individually with each of the hunters to explain to them the newest findings released by the country’s Department of Environment. The report listed 74 species in great danger of extinction if the illegal hunt and sale of the body parts of animals like the blue whale, Asiatic cheetah, Caspian seal and Iranian yellow deer doesn’t end.

“You can’t really make a living in Iran from hunting, unless you become a poacher and sell specific species that are illegal to hunt, like tigers [and] eagles,” said Ahmadi. “I realize now that what I did was damaging to our local wildlife.”

To show they really are taking this matter seriously, the men publicly destroyed their hunting gear, breaking riffles and burning their traps. They have now partnered with Chya to try to get fellow hunters to join the movement and stop killing and start standing up for wild animals.

Via One Green Planet

Photo Credit: France 24