Bob Parsons' now-infamous slaying of an elephant while cameras rolled wasn't the GoDaddy CEO's first conquest in Zimbabwe.
The king of Internet domain registration also hunted a leopard there in 2009 and, of course, caught it all on film.
Unlike the elephant, however, this was no turkey shoot. Parsons and the cameraman were attacked and bitten by the big cat. But that didn't stop the kill team — they rallied and eventually put down the leopard, too.
Parsons has been unapologetic about the incidents, but wouldn't speak with The Daily yesterday. Meanwhile, one of GoDaddy's competitors, NameCheap, announced it would donate $1 to Save the Elephants for every domain user who switched over.
One thing is clear: Parsons has a thing for elephants. For his 60th birthday in November, he commissioned Charm City Cakes in Baltimore to design a 750-pound elephant cake.
"Just because somebody's a hunter doesn't mean they don't like animals," said Jared Sanford, a manager at the cake shop and who is featured on the Food Network reality show Ace of Cakes. "He thinks they're the most amazing animal, as do we."
Sanford said the cake took three weeks to make, and the elephant's head, which was not edible, could be detached and mounted as a wall trophy.
Parsons has defended his elephant kill, claiming it provided food for villagers and stopped the elephant from trampling crops.
John Berry, a South African who operates London-based Zambezi Tours, questioned whether Parsons could have verified at night that he was shooting the right elephant and said the trampled crops in the video did not necessarily signal a dangerous animal.
Others disagreed, saying the video showed a typical big game hunt.
Eugene Lapointe, president of International Wildlife Management Consortium's World Conservation Trust, said South African officials routinely direct big game hunters to villages having elephant trouble. LaPoint said those who have not lived near elephants cannot understand the threat they can pose, he said.
"There are two species of elephants — the ones that we see in developed countries on television, and the one that exists in the realities of Africa," Lapointe said. "The way I look at this video — this is something that happens I don't know how many times in Africa on a daily basis."
However, Johnny Rodrigues, chair of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, had harsh words for Parsons.
"These gullible hunters that have got so much money, they come in and think they’re doing the country a service, but I think they’re doing a lot of damage,” Rodrigues said. "They go back and brag to the rest of the world as if they're heroes. In my eyes, they're cowards."
Marc Warnke, owner of Idaho-based Outdoors International, has organized elephant hunting tours in Zimbabwe and said shooting an elephant can cost tourists more than $30,000.
The king of Internet domain registration also hunted a leopard there in 2009 and, of course, caught it all on film.
Unlike the elephant, however, this was no turkey shoot. Parsons and the cameraman were attacked and bitten by the big cat. But that didn't stop the kill team — they rallied and eventually put down the leopard, too.
Parsons has been unapologetic about the incidents, but wouldn't speak with The Daily yesterday. Meanwhile, one of GoDaddy's competitors, NameCheap, announced it would donate $1 to Save the Elephants for every domain user who switched over.
One thing is clear: Parsons has a thing for elephants. For his 60th birthday in November, he commissioned Charm City Cakes in Baltimore to design a 750-pound elephant cake.
"Just because somebody's a hunter doesn't mean they don't like animals," said Jared Sanford, a manager at the cake shop and who is featured on the Food Network reality show Ace of Cakes. "He thinks they're the most amazing animal, as do we."
Sanford said the cake took three weeks to make, and the elephant's head, which was not edible, could be detached and mounted as a wall trophy.
Parsons has defended his elephant kill, claiming it provided food for villagers and stopped the elephant from trampling crops.
John Berry, a South African who operates London-based Zambezi Tours, questioned whether Parsons could have verified at night that he was shooting the right elephant and said the trampled crops in the video did not necessarily signal a dangerous animal.
Others disagreed, saying the video showed a typical big game hunt.
Eugene Lapointe, president of International Wildlife Management Consortium's World Conservation Trust, said South African officials routinely direct big game hunters to villages having elephant trouble. LaPoint said those who have not lived near elephants cannot understand the threat they can pose, he said.
"There are two species of elephants — the ones that we see in developed countries on television, and the one that exists in the realities of Africa," Lapointe said. "The way I look at this video — this is something that happens I don't know how many times in Africa on a daily basis."
However, Johnny Rodrigues, chair of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, had harsh words for Parsons.
"These gullible hunters that have got so much money, they come in and think they’re doing the country a service, but I think they’re doing a lot of damage,” Rodrigues said. "They go back and brag to the rest of the world as if they're heroes. In my eyes, they're cowards."
Marc Warnke, owner of Idaho-based Outdoors International, has organized elephant hunting tours in Zimbabwe and said shooting an elephant can cost tourists more than $30,000.
