Shoot One Lion - Get One FREE: Inside the Trophy Hunting Holiday Industry

The killing of Cecil the lion by Walter Palmer in 2015 showed there are a handful of people who occasionally kill an animal for kicks, right?
Wrong.
20,000 endangered animals were shot by trophy hunters last year. The total figure is closer to 100,000 animals if you include unprotected species. And this number doesn't count animals shot by people in their own country.
Safari Club International (SCI) is the world's largest trophy hunting group. In the past few years, it has handed out 20,000 prizes to members who have shot lots of animals. They include hundreds of winners of its Hunting Achievement Award who each killed over 125 different animals.
SCI keeps a Record Book of the biggest animals killed by its members. There are 200,000 entries.
You can buy hunting holidays on the internet to shoot virtually any animal on the planet.
If you fancy 'big game' hunting in Africa, there are lions, elephants, rhinos, and hippos. If you prefer 'plains game', then you can choose a giraffe, zebra, leopard or even a cheetah.
If North America is where you'd like to go, you can shoot polar bears and moose. Or pumas and capybara in South America.
Some people enjoy flying 'down under'. Why not shoot camels and wallabies while you're there?
The US has ranches where you can shoot zebras, kangaroos, and animals that have been hunted to extinction in the wild.
There are beavers, reindeer and seals for sale in Europe. Asian wild goats and sheep. If you go to Texas, you can even shoot wild pigs from a helicopter ... using a machine gun.
Some go with their loved ones. There are father and son breaks, mother and daughter shooting trips.
Fancy using a bow and arrow? There are bowhunting-only estates. And companies that specialize in shooting animals with revolvers.
Many hunting companies advertise on the internet. Try googling 'polar bear outfitter'. Or 'lion hunting safari'. Or just 'sheep hunting'.
There are thousands of hunting holiday companies in the world today. They sell hunting package holidays for almost any species. Safari Club International's list of 'eligible' animals covers over 900 species and sub-species, including endangered animals such as black rhinos, and animals you may never have heard of. Hunting companies offers dozens more species not on SCI's list, such as zebras, giraffes, monkeys, baboons. Google 'safari hunting price list'.
In "Shoot 1 Lion Get 1 Free" you will meet the owners of dozens of the world's top hunting companies, see the animals they have for sale, and learn what their customers think of it.
"Shoot 1 Lion Get 1 Free" is a genuine offer promoted by a hunting company in Africa.
Join me as I enter the murky world of the trophy hunting holiday industry, meet over 50 of the industry's top firms, shop around for the best deals, and listen to hunters' happy holiday stories.
Eduardo Gonçalves