Documentary Description
Louis Theroux journeys to the centre of the
controversial South African hunting industry. It’s big business,
attracting thousands of holiday hunters annually. Keeping wild animals
fenced in on farms has made it cheaper and easier to hunt than ever
before, but Louis discovers that this industry, instead of endangering
species, has actually increased animal numbers. Staying at a safari
hunting lodge, Louis hears that each kill has a price. The potential
shopping list is endless, ranging from $250 for a porcupine to $100,000
for a rhino. It’s a hunter’s paradise.This is a
very popular tourist attraction – particularly among Americans. Louis
meets such visitors and tries to understand their motivation to kill for
pleasure, joining them as they go hunting. He meets novice hunter
Ann-Marie, who originally only came to accompany her husband but gets
caught up in the excitement and decides she wants to try to hunt an
animal herself. She tells Louis that, apparently, your first kill is a
total rush – although she would worry about killing a zebra as it’s too
much like a horse. Two of the local landowners,
Piet Venter and Piet Warren, breed animals for hunting and have a
perhaps surprising sensitivity towards the animals they’ve raised. They
take particular care to try to ensure any animal is killed swiftly so
they suffer minimal trauma. Former vet Lolly Fourie, who allows hunting
on his land, explains how he no longer hunts as he gets no pleasure from
it nowadays. Hearing their arguments in favour of the industry, Louis
arranges to go on a hunt of his own. Unsure if he really can pull the
trigger, as he looks at a wart-hog down the arrow of a crossbow he faces
his beliefs head on and must make the decision…
|
