Australian MP Robert Borsak shot and ate elephant in Africa - ‘but not in one sitting’

Borsak defends hunting after being challenged by Green MP

An Australian MP has been branded “revolting” after claiming he shot an elephant and then ate it.

During a speech about animal groups, Robert Borsak, the New South Wales MP for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party, admitted he had eaten an elephant in Africa 10 years ago.

In his speech, he defended the practice of hunting and claimed humans have benefited throughout civilisation from killing animals and eating meat.

“Humans have a right to eat meat if they choose to do so,“ he said. ”It is as simple as that.

“I choose to hunt and gather my own meat because it is my right to do so. It is a clean, organic, and sustainable way to live. I choose to cull feral and invasive animals because culling protects our native species and habitats, and I consider myself a responsible and ethical hunter and fisher.”

His speech was interrupted by Green MP Jeremy Buckingham, who raised his hunting trip in Zimbabwe and asked if he ate the elephant he killed there. Mr Borsak said he did.

When asked by News Corp to confirm he did eat the animal, he responded: “Yes I did, but not in one sitting.”

“Only in the first world do we waste meat,” he went on. He said he had eaten fresh cuts and cured forms of the meat, but added: “There are a lot of cuts of elephant meat I wouldn’t want to eat.”

In February, Mr Borsak defended his decision to hunt wildife, declaring himself a “proud hunter”. Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, he claimed to have received death threats and “rabid commentary” about his activities.

He said elephants kill many people living in Zimbabwe each year and a hunting programme has been put in place to protect residents and their crops.

“They go into the crops, generally at night, and while the villagers try to keep guard, beating pots and pans in an effort to drive them away, their efforts mostly fail. Indeed if they enrage the animals, they are often trampled.

“It was because of these problems that the authorities in Zimbabwe developed the local Communal Areas Management Program for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRES) program.

“This program charges international hunters a fee to humanely shoot elephants that are destroying the crops, and then uses the meat and hides of the beasts to fund local projects. It also supports schools, health clinics, drought relief and anti-ivory poaching initiatives in the depressed rural provinces in Zimbabwe.”

Mr Buckingham said it was “sick” to shoot and kill an elephant for “thrills” and “revolting” that he would eat it.

Mr Borsak did not respond to a request for comment.