How did the villagers eat before the 'kill for sport' crowd came along? Isn't killing one species to protect another tampering with nature?
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Hey Best,
I imagine the African villagers have had their own methods of harvesting game, but here's a Native American method called The Buffalo Jump
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_jump
Killing one species to protect another has been going on as long as there have been lambs and lions or more recently here in Alabama, coyotes and goats.
Not saying this was exactly the case here, but permits/licenses cost mucho $$ Often times safaris target management approved old bulls which have outlived their ability to reproduce. Their tusks, ivory, horn are harvested to keep them off the illegal market, the locals get meat, and the national wildlife managers make money to protect the same as well as other species. Often times, it means hiring a paramilitary outfit to engage poachers. It's a business, a well managed one.
Other times, it's just a matter of thinning the herds, part of wildlife management practices recognized worldwide. Alabama is no different.
You ready to try some smoked feral hog? 
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I know all about the buffalo hunts of old. I heard a story that it took a herd three days to move past a village one time, they were so plentiful and there were such large herds. I also know thrill killers and 'fashion' almost made them extinct. NO on the feral hog or any other wild meat. I can't tolerate the smell and the one time I tried it, the taste was awful. IF eating meant hunting now I'd be out there with you chasing the buffalo over the cliff, but not for sport, or the thrill of killing something. No matter what the lefties say about me I don't walk around with a gun just itching to kill something or someone. I don't know if this was in your article, but Native Americans also thanked the animal for giving it's life to nourish them. We did that in our house when I was a child. The elephant in this story was a young bull as I understand it, not an old over the hill elephant. Again, before my time, but didn't they introduce coyotes to Alabama? I mean in the wild where the animals live naturally, it is tampering with nature to kill one species to protect another. Plus I'd rather have the elephant than the rhino, just an opinion, and if they want to kill off some dangerous things they can start with alligators. Ugh!!