Lions and tigers and Kendall Jones, oh my!

Something, or someone, has ruffled my fur. Her name is Kendall Jones. By now, you're probably sick of hearing about her, but I'm so fired up, I just have to get this out of my system.

Photo by Karen Arnold

Most people have strong feelings one way or another about this 19-year-old Texas cheerleader who is seeking fame by traveling to Africa to kill trophy animals. Her first kill was in 2008. It was a white rhino and she was the tender age of 13. FYI, white rhinos are on the Near Endangered list by the World Wildlife Fund. 

Kendall hides behind the guise of wildlife conservation and feeding the poor villagers in Africa. Give me a break! If she was really concerned about feeding the poor, I'm thinking she could buy a lot of food for the money she spends flying back and forth to Africa. The fact that she travels halfway around the world in order to kill animals like lions, cheetahs, leopards, elephants, hippos, rhinos, and zebras and then pose with them for photo opps indicates to me that this young woman has some serious ego issues.

Again, if it's about feeding the poor, then why all the photos of the smiling teenager posing with her trophy kills? 

What really gets to me is her radiant smile. It makes me want to throw up. Seriously. 

Photo by Vera Kratochvil

Top it all off with the fact that she sends the heads of these animals home to hang on her wall. Again, think of the money she's spending. Couldn't it be better spent feeding the poor. It sure would go a lot further than the meat of a leopard, don't you think?

But actions speak louder than words. Period. This woman is on an ego trip. She's loving the publicity and is hoping to cash in on it with her own reality show.

Photo by Lilla Frerichs

If you've been following the story at all, you know that there is a whole lot of furor over the pictures she's posting on Facebook. Personally, I don't think her page should be removed and the petition to have that happen is a bit silly. After all, there are countless porno pages on Facebook and no one's doing anything about them. If you don't like the pictures, don't look at them. The problem is, because of the furor, we've all seen them and the image of this young woman radiating joy over the carcass of an elephant or a zebra or a majestic lion is forever branded into our brains. For that reason, I am choosing not to share any of these hideous photos. 

Perhaps the biggest insight into her character comes from this direct quote:

"As badly as I wanted to shoot something, I was just too small to hold the guns my dad had brought." ~Kendall Jones, age 9

She grew up with a thirst for killing. And, for me at least, that is simply not cool. Let me add that I am not anti-hunting. We already have a problem with the overpopulation of deer in Western PA, I can't imagine what it would be like if there were no hunters.

Photo by Vera Kratochvil

But could I shoot a deer, or any other animal for that matter? Absolutely not. But I don't think it's wrong to do so. However, shooting big game for the thrill of it (which, despite what she says, seems to be the case), is despicable to me. Killing for fun, for glory, for trophies... who does that? Oh yeah, Kendall Jones. And she pretties it up by providing meat to the villagers. What else would she do with the meat anyway? But she doesn't give it up to them until she strikes a pose over the dead animal and flashes her pearly whites. "Looky what I killed," I imagine her saying in her enthusiastic cheerleader voice. 

This girl is looking for attention. And she's getting plenty of it. But I wonder if it's worth it. I wonder if she can simply dismiss the thousands upon thousands of people who despise her? I sure couldn't. But then again, I'm sensitive. I have a hard time believing that anyone who kills nearly endangered species for sport experiences the same kind of sensitivity. What do you think? Am I wrong?

Sometimes I just have to tell you how I feel.

Click here for a list of vulnerable, near endangered, endangered, and critically endangered species.