Elephants In Zimbabwe Killed by Bob Parsons, Go Daddy CEO

Some animal-rights activists are criticizing Go Daddy founder and CEO Bob Parsons for shooting and killing elephants in Zimbabwe during a recent vacation.

Last week on his video blog at http://www.video.me, Parsons posted "Hunting Problem Elephant, My 2011 Vacation." It shows him and others waiting to shoot elephants that trample sorghum fields and destroy crops in Lobola.

"For the second year in a row, I spent 10 days hunting problem elephant in Zimbabwe," a caption reads. "Of everything I do this is the most rewarding."

The video drew complaints online, with many animal-rights activists and angry Go Daddy customers saying they would take their domain-hosting business elsewhere. Parsons fired back at critics Monday on his blog.

A Sunday post on change.org by Laura Goldman, an animal advocate who lives in Los Angeles, called the video "a gruesome, 4-minute elephant snuff film."

Change.org is a ite where members can start online campaigns and petitions on various causes, including the environment, immigration, gay rights, education, and human and animal rights.

"While Parsons fancies himself a hero, the fact is there are many more humane, gun-free ways to keep elephants away from crops," Goldman wrote.

Conservationists and farmers have been working together to create harmless elephant-shooing devices, such as chile-infused string fences, beehives on poles, and people standing guard to bang bamboo sticks, ring cowbells and shine spotlights on the elephants when they approach the crops at night, Goldman said.

The African elephant is listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

But elephants in Zimbabwe and a few other countries are offered less protection and can be traded within limits. Those nations have shown they were able to manage their elephant populations and claimed the increasing number of the animals is causing agricultural losses, decreased revenue from hunting and increased conflicts between elephants and local residents, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

"Elephants face enough threats, such as habitat loss, poaching and drought, to be ambushed and killed by hunters," said Grace Gabriel, IFAW Asia regional director. "There are better ways to alleviate human-elephant conflicts without inflicting harm to elephants."

In the video shot March 8, Parsons says he and his team were flagged down "by a desperate farmer worried about losing everything."

Parsons shows trampled vegetation in a sorghum field and says the elephants have been in the field for three consecutive nights.

"We're hoping they come back for a fourth," Parsons says. "If they do, we're going to be here to greet them."

The video shows a sunset and nightfall as the team moves into position.

When elephants in the field are heard, lights are turned on. Parsons shoots first. He fires again. One bull is killed and the remaining elephants stampede out of the field.

Snapshots are taken showing Parsons standing next to the dead animal. The following day the elephant is butchered by hundreds of villagers, many donning orange Go Daddy.com baseball caps. In the video, AC/DC's "Hells Bells" plays in the background.

"Bulls do not return to fields. Crops are saved. Team leaves to find another farmer in need of help," the end title reads.

Change.org member Goldman is asking people to sign a petition letter to Parsons explaining alternatives. The title of the petition is "Tell Go Daddy's CEO: Real Men Don't Kill Elephants." It had more than 700 signatures late Monday afternoon.

On his blog Monday, Parsons, who also hunts leopards in Africa, took on an e-mailer who watched the video and said he would no longer spend money with the company.

"The people there have very little, many die each year from starvation and one of the problems they have is the elephants, of which there are thousands and thousands, that trash many of their fields destroying the crops," Parsons wrote, adding tribal authorities request he and others patrol the fields before and during harvest.

Parsons said the team tries to avoid killing elephant cows.

"By just killing bulls it has no effect on the elephant social structure (as it is matriarchal) as well as the herd size," he wrote. "The reason is another bull quickly steps up and breeds in place of the bull taken."

He called the alternatives listed by Goldman in her posting "ridiculous."

"I wonder how many of those people from change.org will be on their way to Zimbabwe with bee hives and chili pepper covered string during the next harvest. My guess is none."