TROPHY hunters are paying up to £25,000 to kill zebras, kangaroos and antelopes for fun on family holidays. Brits are travelling to Texas in the United States for hunting holidays, using rifles, machine guns and bows and arrows to shoot and kill wildlife. A worker at the Ox Ranch in Uvalde, Texas, said British hunters […]
TROPHY hunters are paying up to £25,000 to kill zebras, kangaroos and antelopes for fun on family holidays.
Brits are travelling to Texas in the United States for hunting holidays, using rifles, machine guns and bows and arrows to shoot and kill wildlife.
A worker at the Ox Ranch in Uvalde, Texas, said British hunters often visit.
Ranch worker Sonia told the Daily Star: “Many come along and bring their children – we offer activities for the whole family.”
Hunters are able to target up to 60 different animal species at the ranch, including the African bongo antelope, which costs £25,000 per kill.
Himalayan tahr are worth £5,500 each, while Arabian oryxes cost £7,000.
Antelopes and wildebeest also roam at the ranch and are targets for hunters.
Ranch owner Brett Oxley, 38, said his business is primarily concerned with animal conservation.
He said: “It’s easy for people to call hunting evil, especially when they are ill-informed and don’t have to provide a viable alternative.
“We have hundreds of anti-hunters out a year, and very few if any leave with the notion that what we are doing is evil.”
The ranch’s website reads: “Ox Ranch has the zebra hunt you have been dreaming of!
“You may hunt our trophy zebra using any method you prefer, including spot and stalk, bow hunting, rifle hunting, pistol hunting, safari-style, or from a blind.
“All of our zebra hunts are a fair chase on over 18,000 acres of Texas hill country.”
Pictures on the ranch’s website show customers posing with their kills.
Ashley Byrne from PETA disputed Mr Oxley’s conservation claim.
She said: “Hunting has absolutely nothing to do with conservation.
“What they’re doing is trying to put a better spin on a business that they know the average person finds despicable.”
