NRA Chief Filmed In Botched Elephant Killing, Undercover Video Goes Viral
The graphic footage of CEO Wayne LaPierre clumsily shooting an elephant has outraged animal conservationists, while also managing to alienate hunters and gun enthusiasts alike.
Credit: The New Yorker
A shocking video showing the botched killing of an African savanna elephant at the hands of Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association (NRA), has gone viral.
The horrific footage was filmed in 2013 at Botswana’s Okavango Delta, as part of a TV series sponsored by the NRA.
However, it was never broadcast, presumably due to the clumsy and awkward shooting skills of LaPierre. It has recently been uncovered by The Trace, and published in partnership with The New Yorker.
In the footage, LaPierre appears to ignore the guide’s repeated instructions to ‘wait’, and instead fires at the elephant. LaPierre then asks: “Did we get him?”
Once they locate the stricken animal, LaPierre is told to shoot again, this time standing only a few yards from his target.
“Not quite done yet”, says the guide, as the wounded animal can be heard gurgling in the background.
Despite the guide’s instructions, LaPierre becomes flustered, and unsure of exactly where to shoot the animal. He is told to kneel down for a better angle.
He fires two further shots from point-blank range, but neither are at the right target, and the elephant continues struggling for breath. The guide seems to lose patience with LaPierre, and the presenter of the TV series is forced to intervene, delivering the fatal shot to end the elephant’s extreme and prolonged suffering.
While standing over the corpse, there is some further disagreement between LaPierre and the guide, who is still “not sure where you hit him”.
“LaPierre manages to alienate both hunters and gun owners because not only is this inhumane, but he’s a horrible shot”, tweeted Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action.
Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) meanwhile urged congress to cut ties with the NRA.
“This elephant died horrifically so that Wayne LaPierre could have the animal’s front feet hacked off and shipped to the U.S. under someone else’s name in order to be made into stools for his home”, explained PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA urges every member of Congress to watch this video, condemn the murder of animals for their body parts by trophy addicts, and have the courage to reject NRA money.”
Later on in the video, LaPierre’s wife, Susan, shoots an elephant in the head, and then again in the stomach, from close-range. Afterwards, she laughs and excitedly exclaims to the camera: “That was amazing … I feel great!” She then hugs the tour guides, and cuts off the elephant’s tail to take home as a trophy.
The timing of the video’s publication is particularly damaging, given the savanna elephant was officially recognized just last month as an ‘endangered’ species, by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
And although the trip made by the LaPierres was legal at the time, Botswana’s President, Ian Khama, imposed a hunting ban the following year.
This hunting ban remained in place until 2019, when it was controversially overturned by Khama’s successor, Mokgweetsi Masisi.
More stories:
Species Unite
A collection of stories of those who fight the good fight on behalf of animals.
How to protect rhinos from poachers, learning about what owls know, and the campaign to stop the construction of the biggest ‘monkey farm’ in the US - these are just some of the topics covered in our most listened-to episodes of the year.