History often uncannily repeats itself. Particularly in ways that showcase the undesirable elements of human nature. 

An ugly part of Connecticut's past occurred in the mid-1600's, when the infamous Connecticut Witch Trials took place. People were wrongfully convicted by prosecutorial tribunals who were certain that misguided, manufactured hysteria, conjured up accusations, and hateful, persecutory public pressure was true. "Witches" were wrongfully blamed as being the cause of both natural and man-made disasters, and were declared via mob mentality to be deserving of death. Hartford, Connecticut was a prominent area for such gripping hysteria and wrongful persecution of those whom they marginalized, refused to understand and slated to be hated and eliminated, instead.

Fast forward to today.....in the same area, but 358 years later, where a modern day version of this is in progress. Connecticut passed a bill that its supporters claim will "save" African wildlife by banning trophy imports of six key African species. It is not even an accurate description of the bill, let alone what effects such a bill would have. The approved version of the bill is meaningless, impotent, and a significant waste of time and money, as it was five years in the making and accomplishes nothing. Federal law preempts state law, and these species are federally permitted. Yet 30 senators, the governor, and some of the residents of Connecticut are applauding its passage and calling it a hard won victory. What do they think they won? Awards for deceit, dishonesty, ignorance and blatant wastage of time and funds?

And an award for resurrecting the witch hunt mentality. 

You may or may not like trophy hunting. Chances are good you might not even know exactly what it is, as there is much misinformation disseminated about it. But you don't have to like it. You only need to understand that if you truly do care about Africa's wildlife having a sustainable future, trophy hunting has merits and utilities, and an essential role to play in this conservation arena. The primary one of which is the protection of significantly more wildlife habitat than national parks in Africa encompass. Hunting lands are often not suitable for photo tourism, act as buffer zones around many national parks, and will likely be engulfed by encroachment from human settlement activities if no longer supported by hunting. And habitat loss is the number one danger to African wildlife.

As more people become increasingly urbanized, so does the disconnect from direct interactions with nature and the understanding of what hunting truly is. And human nature is, sadly, to hate or fear what is foreign to our own lives and what we don't understand. Blaming modern day trophy hunting for any declines in Africa's wildlife is just as misplaced as the hateful persecution of "witches" was for events Connecticut residents didn't understand hundreds of years ago. And, as another very sad repetition of history, many anti-hunters nowadays feel that hunters should be killed, just as fictitious witches were once deemed deserving of death.

What eventually stopped the 16 year long reign of these Witch Trials? A governor of the colony who utilized his firsthand knowledge and experience with the true issues at hand to stand up against the false accusations, a man who made the public realize that the demons whom they conjured up were not really demons at all. Hopefully individuals of similar integrity and commitment exist today as well, who will work hard to allow rational thought to prevail over manufactured hysteria, and reason and pragmatism to triumph over folly and delusion. Individuals in our government system who will consult with those in Africa who would be directly affected by any import bans, and who know the real issues that need addressed. Africa's wildlife could benefit most from that approach.

If you live in Connecticut or in any other state or country that proposes trophy import ban legislation, please seek the truth if you really do care about Africa's wildlife - and its humans too. These campaigns are typically funded and promoted by animal rights activists and anti-hunters, who illustrate through their actions that they prioritize hating hunters over contributing in any meaningful ways to conservation themselves. 



Historians agree that what the Connecticut Witch Trials should've taught us is that we need to always remain vigilant of what hatred, ignorance and lack of reason can accomplish. Nothing positive.