Web Hosting Giant Kills “Problem” Elephant

Added by Monique Robinson on April 3, 2011

A video posted on his company’s website shows the founder of website domain hosting giant Go Daddy killing a  “problem” elephant in Zimbabwe, causing a wave of criticism

The video was apparently shot during Bob Parson’s second elephant hunting trip to Zimbabwe. “Of everything I do, this is the most rewarding,” he said in the opening message of the video.

The elephant in question was allegedly eating a local farmer’s crops, which according to Parson, clearly justified the killing.

However, animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said on its website that “Parsons has killed at least one elephant and a leopard for his personal enjoyment.”  The group said that Parson should rather spend his wealth on finding humane solutions to the human-elephant conflict.

PETA also announced that they will move its website away from the Go Daddy hosting plan.

Individuals also expressed their criticism on Parson’s personal blog. One customer said “There’s nothing you can write here that will make it okay with me that you go to Africa and shoot elephants… I believe it is wrong on so many levels.”

Rival hosting company Namecheap.com are offering Go Daddy clients the chance to transfer their domains at a heavily discounted price, the proceeds of which will in part go towards the savetheelephants.org charity.

Tamar Weinberg at Namecheap posted a message that read “It’s not often that we would disagree publicly with a competitor, but we at Namecheap are very disturbed by this video of a competitor killing an elephant for sport.”