You should not be killing elephants because they walked across a few crops -- disgusting. ______ GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons under fire for killing elephant The head of web hosting giant GoDaddy.com has come under fire for posting a gruesome video of a recent hunting trip to Africa that animal-rights groups call an "elephant snuff film." In the video, the company's founder, Bob Parsons, and a team of hunters gun down an elephant in Zimbabwe that they claim destroyed a poor farmer's crops. The team can be seen standing in a flattened sorghum field, which Parsons says elephants had been trampling for the past three nights. "Unless elephants are stopped, entire crops may be lost," a message in the video says. The film then cuts to night with the hunters spotting two elephant bulls and Parson fatally shooting one. He then poses atop the dead pachyderm, resting the butt of his gun on the animal's bloodied head. WATCH VIDEO BELOW In a scene the the next morning, local villagers wearing orange GoDaddy hats butcher the carcass and pass out meat as the AC/DC song "Hells Bells" plays over the footage. Parsons linked to the video on Twitter on March 14, saying, "Just back from hunting problem elephant in Zimbabwe. Here's my vacation video. Enjoy." A message at the beginning of the video warns of graphic violence. Activists, animal lovers and some customers said they were furious, calling the video an "elephant snuff film." PETA called Parsons "heinous" and labeled him the "scummiest CEO of the year," while activists created a petition on Change.org to tell Parsons that "Real Men Don't Kill Elephants." Parsons said his detractors were missing the point. "I think everyone's heart is in the right place, but they are missing that things are different over there," he said. "If they had an animal destroying their livelihood and they were going to starve to death ... they'd look at it differently. And that's the situation in Zimbabwe." The ex-Marine and Vietnam veteran called his critics "a small but vocal minority" and said he wasn't worried about losing customers. "I helped the farmer protect his field, and I fed a lot of people," Parsons said. But several commenters on the video's website planned to boycott the company. "Ugh, disgusting," one wrote. "Switching domains to namecheap… Boom, headshot! Looks like you shot yourself in the foot with this one Parsons." GoDaddy competitor NameCheap.com also tried to capitalize on the outrage by offering a special deal to customers who transfer their domains to their service. The company promised to donate $1 to the organization Save the Elephants for every transfer. link
Except it wasn't for sport. Those elephants were trampling the crop fields. The elephant meat was distributed to the villagers instead of pointlessly mounted. Nothing wrong done here. Circle of life. Yada yada yada. stfu hippies
The elephants were destroying the farmland. Hunters were hired to protect the farm instead of killing a random elephant. There's your difference.
Human lives >>> An animal's life. Get your priorities straight everyone. Well done Parsons! Who's your Daddy, Dumbo?
ever heard of and a tranquilizer gun? Elephant Relocation? You must be the type that pours Used Oil down the drain.
Ummmm, who cares? the elephants were destroying farmland, and it dead fed a lot of people good for him
It's an endangered species not some rat. What do you think about the poisoning of Lions by farmers? http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/26/60minutes/main4894945.shtml
The area they showed was tiny and there was no proof it was the elephants that trampled it. Elephants eat crops they don't just trample them like Stampy on the Simpsons. This guy wanted to kill a Bull Elephant and created an excuse to do so -- a poor one at that.
If you think a CEO of an American company wanted to go Africa to help a couple of poor farmers with their elephant problem, you're just as naive as the idea of capitalism creating a trickle down economy.
why is an elephant more worth preserving than a rat? and it looks like the lions were threatening the lives and jobs of local farmers, so I see no problem with it again, this isnt just for sport, the guy was not tossing grenades at elephants or mowing them down with AK47s for fun, they killed them for a reason, and it fed a lot of people afterwards you have any evidence of that or are you just blowing that assumption out of your ass?
So basically: Corrupt, filthy rich American ex-soldier CEO pays off corrupt wildlife game officials in Zimbabwe to let him hunt luxury game for sport, tries to play if off under the guise of altruism, fails miserably. What a disgusting human being.
