Selling shotgun in Jungle "Love" section???

[Wonderland]

Hi, I just popped in here because I got an email about the new Big Cat, and immediately put it and the panther in my cart as I'm a huge big cat and animal lover. I was looking through the jungle love section and was shocked to see a "shotgun" (that looks like a rifle to me, but I know next to nothing about guns,) and it seems like the site is condoning poaching which I'm avidly against, and I'm really hoping that those who run the site are against poaching or killing animals as well... There should not be guns, even digital ones, sold in the jungle love section... Endangered species are being wiped off the planet by humans who indiscriminately poach animals for their fur, Chinese herbs, or as mere trophies. I'm sorry to jump in here with such a negative tone, but I'm involved with various charities that protect animals and found it very upsetting and inappropriate to see what looks like poaching rifles in the jungle love section... Maybe put cameras instead in that section, better to shoot with cameras than guns!

 

[Satira Capriccio]

HiveWire is most definitely not condoning poaching. What's rather clear to most of us who have spent much time on the site or interacting with those involved in creating the HiveWire animals is just how much they love animals!

The Jungle Love! theme features products that fit in a Tarzan/Jungle Book world. Many of the newer products were created specifically with the Tarzan movies and books and the Jungle Book movies in mind. Other products, such as the Safari Camp, the Shotgun, Cowboy Hat, and many others fit the jungle adventurer idea.

 

[Wonderland]

But why would you need a gun? Who/what are these adventurers planning on shooting? I just think it's really inappropriate...

 

[Alisa]

I would not assume that a shotgun is intended for poaching. I can think of a few things it might be used for:

-A poisonous snake that slithers up as you're going through the jungle
-To shoot in the air as a signal if you're lost
-If you LIVE in the jungle and need to eat, you may HAVE to shoot something in order to eat and/ or survive a potential attack.

 

[eclark1894]

But why would you need a gun? Who/what are these adventurers planning on shooting? I just think it's really inappropriate...

Have you ever seen a Tarzan movie?

 

[Glitterati3D]

I would not assume that a shotgun is intended for poaching. I can think of a few things it might be used for:

-A poisonous snake that slithers up as you're going through the jungle
-To shoot in the air as a signal if you're lost
-If you LIVE in the jungle and need to eat, you may HAVE to shoot something in order to eat and/ or survive a potential attack.

One more I can think of

- Stopping ARMED POACHERS

 

[Sunfire]

I can think of another reason.

- Stopping Animals that are attacking you. Not just snakes but the panthers, the tigers, the apes... Sometimes those animals can be very territorial and just being in their territory is grounds for them to attack.

 

[Rae134]

A shotgun wouldn't be used for poaching unless you were planning to get up close and personal as they have great stopping power only at close range (so more chance of a poacher getting themselves killed by the animal). They are more used in hunting for small game, especially birds. I'm with Glitterati in that I'd want one if I came across the Big Game Poachers as they will kill a person as easily as an animal.

The people here at the Hive love animals and wouldn't condone Poaching but there are a number of different uses for a shotgun.

 

[eclark1894]

I can think of another reason.

- Stopping Animals that are attacking you. Not just snakes but the panthers, the tigers, the apes... Sometimes those animals can be very territorial and just being in their territory is grounds for them to attack.

You mean, like an elephant or a rhino, either of which will happily run you down if they even smell you close by? And btw, I'm no fan of ivory hunters. If an elephant or rhino gets you... good.

 

[Wonderland]

Just watched a doc yesterday about natives who live in villages right near wild animals and they didn't have guns and fed themselves by fishing and there was a group of people whose job it was to deal with poachers but they were local enforcers wearing T-shirts that had IFAW on it, not tourists with cowboy hats and adventurer clothes. Maybe if the promo had a guy in an IFAW T-shirt, I'd feel better about the whole thing... I'm actually doing art right now for a charity trying to save the animals in Borneo from poachers and did some art for another anti-poaching group, so I guess I'm a little over-sensitive to it... BTW, the natives lived right near elephants but made special noises to scare them away if they got too close. The natives know what they're doing. Tourists aren't even supposed to be in those areas...

 

[Rae134]

The "Jungle Love" isn't a section it is a current sale so the promo images for the shotgun was made for a wildwest theme. Promo shots for a particular product doesn't change for a particular sale.

 

[Wonderland]

Well, I know, but it's a themed sale, called "Jungle LOVE." Maybe weapons from the Wild West shouldn't be in the themed sale.... I went to a Wildlife Film festival once where most of the cameramen said they used to hunt, now they only shoot with their cameras. Are there any camera gear models on this site? That would seem to fit more appropriately....

 

[Satira Capriccio]

Edit. Oops. I wasn't on the Jungle Love Sale page. Sorry about that.

You can find a camera and tripod in the store. Camera is a new release. The tripod is a bit older.

Twin Eye Reflex Camera
Tripod

 

[Wonderland]

Never Again: Cecil's Murder Should Mark an End to Trophy Hunting in Zimbabwe Forever

Please check this out and sign. It's about a rich hunter who killed a beloved lion named Cecil just for sport. Help stop these animals from being killed in real life...

 

[Alisa]

Yeah, I remember reading about that - very sad

 

[LisaB]

We most certainly are not condoning poaching of any kind. Most of the tv programming I watch is nature based and animal based. Many of the charities I donate to are pro wildlife and pro environment. The activism I do is also pro environment and pro animal.

With that said, there is a need to have a shotgun in the jungle for reasons already stated. In the anti poaching programming I have watched those defending the animals are armed. They have to be.

I understand your point of view but the perspective on why there is a shotgun in the Jungle Love category is much wider than than us apparently condoning poaching, which we are not. When you love something sometimes there's a need to defend it, or yourself, with excessive force.

I will add the camera and tripod to the category as well.

 

[Satira Capriccio]

Cool Lisa! I thought I'd seen the camera in the Jungle Love!, but turned out, I was looking at new releases.

I read several articles about Cecil since I read both Mother Nature Network and Treehugger, and both of them tend to feature a lot of articles about the environmental and threats to both the environment and wildlife.

Personally, I don't understand the big game hunter mentality. I'm also a wee bit (or a lot more) anti-gun. Especially, when one lives in a city rather than a village on the edge of a jungle. But ... I also would not go exploring jungle type environments or any other place where one will encounter lions and tigers and poachers ... without an armed guide.

 

[eclark1894]

How come animal rights activists never complain about big game fishing?

 

[LisaB]

I've always lived in the country and guns have been a part of my life ever since I can remember so it's very normal to me. As much of an animal lover as I am we wont go camping in the Whispering Woods without having a shotgun as a means to protect ourselves. We've never had to use it but if we did it would be to scare the wildlife away unless we had no other choice.

I was sitting outside having coffee one morning with my dog at my feet. Two very large coyote or some kind of coyote hybrids circled us coming quite close. My dog was off leash as he usually is and I grabbed him before he could get defensive. He's a large black lab and the visitors were as big, maybe bigger than he is. I yelled for hubby to get the shotgun but it wasn't needed. The coyote saw us and adjusted their path to follow the trails in the woods vs the wide open where we were. That same year there was also evidence of a bear climbing some dead trees 10 feet away from where we park the camper. That was interesting but creepy.

Plus the human element one finds in the woods. We've had poachers kill deer almost right under our noses just for the horns and the backstrap. They left the carcasses in plain sight right on the edge of the field and also threw them in the pond. Kind of unsettling but for me, reality.

 

[Alisa]

Scary, Lisa!!