Elephant in the Room, Grant's Farm Shuts Down, TopGen Energy, Charlton McCallum Hunting Safaris, Mike Jines, Max Delezenne, Trophy hunters & ways to deal with Trophy Hunting!

In Defense of Animals
Grant's Farm Shuts Down Exhibit After All Elephants Die. After the heartbreaking deaths of all four elephants held captive at Grant's Farm who all died within one year — and three within only weeks of each other — the Missouri facility has announced it will no longer maintain a captive elephant display. READ MORE
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Trophy hunter and head of TopGen Energy, Mike Jines along with Max Delezenne, the head of Charlton McCallum Hunting Safaris kill a baby elephant last week!
For several weeks, social media users have been outraged over viral pictures of Mike Jines And Max ‘Buzz’ Delezenne standing over two dead elephants, one of which has blood dripping from where it appears to have been shot in the head.
Jines, a partner with TopGen Energy in Georgia, claimed the pictures are not describing what actually happened. He claims the two elephants were shot out of self-defense, despite both men appearing proud of their kill. The pictures comes from a hunt in October 2018 when Jines says the two elephants charged him and Delezenne, leaving them no choice but to shoot.
The two elephants that are shown in the photos were shot in self-defense, in an unprovoked charge and both elephants were fully mature cows, not juveniles.
On January 31, Darrell Eisman posted the image to his Facebook from the hunt. In the description, Eisman included an email for Jines’ company and requested for the picture to go viral and to send an email. That post has been shared over 40,000 times.
Apologies for the disturbing photo.
If you’re really upset by what you see, than make this go viral along with an email letting Mike Jines know what you think.
info@topgenenergy.net
The image read as follow.
They killed a baby elephant! The hunting company is Charlton McCallum Hunting Safaris. The owner is Buzz Charlton. The professional hunter is Max Delezenne and the trophy hunter is Mike Jines, the owner of TopGen Energy. Share and make them famous on the Internet for being scum of the earth!
Another photo shows Jines standing between both dead elephants. Social media users have pointed out the elephants look very young, but Jines claims they were both adults.
Buzz Charlton, owner of Charlton McCallum Hunting Safaris is well known among the hunting community for his elephant hunts in Zimbabwe over the last few decades. A description of his book “Tall Tales” — that sells for $750 on Safari Press, but has yet to receive its first review — claims to be from hunts in Zambezi Valley.
Few people need an introduction to Buzz Charlton, made famous over the last decade with a series of elephant hunting DVDs set in Zimbabwe.  If you haven’t seen them, you should—they have the power to raise the hackles on an 800-pound dead gorilla.  Buzz is also known for shooting crop-raiding Problem Animal Control (PAC) elephants and ornery, cranky tuskless cows in the thick jesse bush of the Zambezi Valley.  This sort of hunting quickly distinguishes the men from the boys—it is definitely not for the faint of heart.   In fact, at a recent safari convention Buzz admitted to us that he was doing less of that type of hunting because he wanted to see his girls grow up.  This does not mean he has stopped going after elephants, but rather he is now concentrating his hunts along the Mozambique border for trophy bull elephants . . . as if that is a tame way to spend one’s professional caree
More pictures of dead elephants are seen in a 2005 hunt report where Charlton was listed as the Professional Hunter responsible for leading a group to kill “5 cow elephant, 1 non-trophy bull elephant, a buffalo bull, a buffalo cow, a baboon and guinea fowl” over an 18 day period. According to the report, Charlton had killed over 350 elephants at the time of that hunt over 13 years ago.
This was a fantastic hunt in all regards. The game desired was seen in large numbers. Buzz is a fabulous hunter who got me very close to the game whenever it could be done relatively safely. Buzz and his crew worked hard and efficientlyand produced results. Ordinarily we ate lunch in the field rather than returning to camp for lunch and a siesta in order to maximize the time spent tracking elephant. Buzz uses 2 sets of trackers so that 2 different herds of elephant can be followed simultaneously. When the 2nd set of trackers finds elephant that they think Buzz and the client should see, they radio Buzz and a rendevous is made. Buzz also uses a driver to pick up the PH and client, as well as the extra trackers, in order to avoid long and unproductive walks back to the Toyota. This also helps to maximize the productive time spent following elephant tracks. Finding either tuskless cow elephant or trophy bull elephant is a numbers game – the more elephant you see, the greater the chance of success. Buzz’ hunting technique produces elephant in large numbers and I would highly recommend him to anyone interested in elephant hunting. To date, Buzz has been involved in the taking of more than 350 elephant.
According to Jines, his company felt the backlash after his photo went viral. Following the fallout, Jines said he was trying to make sure social media knew the “actual facts as opposed to the mischaracterization of the information on social media.” Jines claims the elephants were killed in a designated safari area and followed both Zimbabwe and U.S. regulations. Before the picture went viral, Jines posted the following account of the story.
The hunt started with a bang . . . literally. Less than thirty minutes into the first morning of the first day we experienced a double elephant cow charge. This was obviously a first for me but it turns out it was a first for Buzz as well. We saw a group of cows from the road and decided to follow them to see if a tuskless was in the group. We caught them quickly and identified a tuskless… We positioned ourselves to get a good look at the tuskless and concluded that since it was just Day 1 we would pass. An instant later she came in an all out charge. Buzz and I both fired two shots a piece and she went down. Then from behind us a large one-tusked cow charged at full speed. We each fired one shot and she crashed to the ground with her hind legs out behind her…
Should Elephants Have Legal Rights?
Although trophy hunting is nothing new, but there has been a huge surge in the number of people who are concerned about the practice and are looking for ways to help since the death of Cecil the lion. Thankfully, much of the support garnered in the past few weeks has been positive, despite the circumstances.

Trying to raise awareness and get people to care about anything can be incredibly taxing, including something as controversial as trophy hunting. Trust us, we get it. It’s incredibly frustrating. But despite how upset we may find ourselves, it’s important to keep in mind that resorting to forms of intimidation or bullying to make a point is not constructive and will do little to help our cause.

Here is a not so full proof list of ways you can get involved and ways to educate others so that we can all be informed and impactful citizens!

1. Educate Yourself FIRST
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This may be the most important step. After all, how can you expect anyone to listen to what you have to say if you don’t have facts to back it up? It can be difficult to sift through and find the truth, so if you’re not sure, just ASK. A reputable source will always be willing to answer questions or send you in the right direction. One Green Planet has a wealth of articles on the topic including: Ending the Debate Over the Benefits of Trophy Hunting. 4 Myths Debunked, 5 Reasons Trophy Hunting is not Conservation, Is Hunting Animals Really the Best Way to Reduce Human-Wildlife Accidents?, 5 Animals People Hunt and the Ridiculous Reasons Why.

2. Educate Others
While we’re all individuals, people usually fall into one of two distinct groups when discussing animal hunting: Those eager to listen and those who simply disagree with you. For the latter, this is where educating yourself first REALLY helps.

Still, some people are set in their ways and you’re definitely bound to encounter people that don’t want to hear what you have to say. Ignorance can be bliss, especially when it means opening yourself up to just how greedy and destructive mankind can be. We know that this is discouraging, but just keep in mind that getting upset and lashing out is exactly what any critic anticipates from animal activists. Animal conservation issues are fueled by emotions because they can be emotional. Just don’t let them get the best of you. Stick to the facts that you do know and be open to their feedback as well. You might not be able to change everyone’s opinion right away, but planting a seed can have an incredible output later.

3. Letters and Petitions
There are dozens of petitions online for specific causes, including those looking to ban the import of wildlife parts into the United States from trophy hunts. In many cases, these petitions grab the desired attention of governments or elected officials because it’s difficult to ignore hundreds of thousands of people standing up and voicing their opposition. (A small group of thoughtful committed citizens, right?) In this case, Delta Airlines, Air France, Qantas and a number of other airlines pledged to no longer ship trophies of wild animals on their flights just within the past few weeks.

If you want to do more then electronically sign a petition, consider writing a hand written letter to your regional representatives. It’s bound to have a positive impact, and it’s equally as difficult (if not more) to ignore hundreds or potentially thousands of letters piling up on the desk of a government official.

4. Take to Social Media
Word travels fast with social media, and although it’s important to fact check (after all not EVERYTHING you read on the internet is true), using any number of the social media platforms available is a great way to raise awareness and have your voice heard.

Instagram and Twitter aren’t just for the Kardashians anymore! Dozens of reputable organizations working to end trophy hunting and improve animal welfare standards including Elephant Aid International, Wildlife SOS, Wild Aid, IFAW, United for Wildlife and Save the Rhino are vocal on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Sharing articles you read right here is another fantastic way to spread information and get all your friends involved too!

5. Where to Donate?
6 Amazing International Animal Rights Organizations That You've Probably Never Heard of ... but Should!
Not everyone is in a position to travel and volunteer, so donating to those who are can be the next best thing. There are a lot of organizations that accept donations that vow to use the money raised for conservation efforts and to protect endangered species, just make sure you check that they’re reputable before you donate. Sometimes the information provided or explanations given can be pretty broad and without any proof easily accessible it’s hard to know exactly where your money is going. Check out this resource to help you tell the difference between an exotic animal sanctuary or organization that is reputable and once that’s a scamtuary.

If you’re looking for an organization to donate to, start with one that has teams in the field working with the locals and with the government to protect crucial habitat, rehabilitate wild animals and implement anti-poaching measures.
Don Lichterman
Sunset Corporation of America (SCA)
Sunset TV
Sunset Television Network
Sustainable Action Network (SAN)