Sad that when I googled King Juan Carlos' hunting accident in Botswana, all the stories (at least until I got tired of scrolling down) were about criticism of the Spanish king taking a holiday at a time when the Spanish economy is in a mess (he had previously said he was having trouble sleeping because of the country's high rate of youth unemployment), or focussed on the hip injury he sustained while blasting away at wildlife.

The appalling example of a public figure killing wild animals instead of helping preserve them hardly merited attention in the reports. (We'll no doubt be told culling is part of elephant conservation, but this is not the first report of him killing animals for fun - sorry, royal duty.)

Perhaps when the wildlife NGOs return to work on Monday morning they will tip the balance of sympathy a little towards the dead elephant pictured briefly on the safari company's website and away from a spoiled old man.

Perhaps he could clear up another mystery: why shooting at such a huge target - the largest land mammal - is supposed to be so heroic.

 

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