The only thing this guy is sorry about is getting caught, I also want to say that he is not the only one. Most ALL politicians in power (anywhere in the world) get away with similar abuses. How much is it costing the US taxpayers for all the private planes used by our politicians?

The article said nothing about using taxpayer's money. No apology necessary in my opinion, everyone deserves a vacation once in a while.

People that hunt for sport are sick twisted and pathetic cowards. If they wanna get a thrill by killing a poor defenseless creature, then at least do it with a bow and arrow or a spear and give that lion or leopard a fighting chance. Whats that?? I didn't think so. Like I said before the extinction of the human race is the best thing that can happen to this planet.

It's so much easier to as "forgiveness" rather than "permission". All these supposedly smart people do whatever they want to do, and then say they're sorry. Who cares after the fact, and who in their right mind would forgive. And, certainly not forgive their stupidity - which, in itself, should be a punishable crime.

I'm sorry for hunting elephants, I didn't have the brains to know better before I went, but I do now! I did however get some really excellent trophies which I'll be hanging on my wall, you know, to remind me just how very wrong I was.

WORDS YOU WILL NEVER HEAR FROM A US POLITICIAN:

“I am very sorry. I’ve made a mistake and it will not happen again,”

The notion of "royalty" is idiotic and to go elephant hunting is downright moronic. As far as the tax payers are concerned, who do you think "maintains" these people. Although they probably have plenty of money of their own, no doubt they get a very generous "allowance," free housing, servants, all the trappings, from the govt.

Karma? Ya' Think!?!

Juan Carlos, you are an imbecile.

Hell with Spain and it's austerity. What about the elephants? Declining numbers, war on poachers and this pr*ck goes hunting for them.

These hunting trips are legal and are regulated by their government. Believe it or not, hunting is good for the local economies. A ton of money is generated by these trips that would otherwise be generated by illegal poaching and such.

Okicize, like many uninformed bunny huggers, doesn't realize elephants have a wide range and are NOT all endangered or have declining numbers within their whole range. They also don't realize that the best way to protect a species is to give it an ecomonic value. I'm not talking about black market value, but a value to all the people in the area. Elephant hunts are very controled as are the number of permits. Clueless individuals like Snake09 have never been near an elephant, or most likely anywhere near an actual animal, are just sad self-haters.

Like I said before the extinction of the human race is the best thing that can happen to this planet.

I would guess no one is stopping you from beginning without us.

He doesn't look like he could hit the broadside of an Elephant.

Easier to ask forgiveness than permission.....

AND..........you will never hear obummer say that he is sorry for taking 1000 vacations on OUR wallet!!!! Nor apologizing for his mate ;o) for taking vacations and spending OUR HARD earned MONEY!!!!!!!!! God forbid.....OH I mean allah forbid.

@Snake09 Why don't you start the human extinction process by offing yourself.

Like GW did not take vacations? You are just another one of those haters. Get the facts before you spout and you won't seem so foolish. GW Bush spent far more money on his stupid wars. We are still trying to get out of the mess that he put us into. So do us all a favor and vote for Obama/Biden 2012.

The King of Spain(like Queen Elizabeth II in England) is in fact merely the"symbolic" leader of his country. They both have representive -elected governments.Still both these countries seem to enjoy having "royals" -- I agree that they are given far too much money to live a wonderful lifestyle --especially when the people of their countires are in need of jobs in these unsure economic times. But again, this is something that the people of both these country have to consider. I am more concerned with the unneccessary killing of the elephants. Aren't they an endangered species? As the article implied, it was not clear if the King was "sorry" for taking the vaction, hunting or just for getting injuried during the trip. But as we see in our own country -- the rich do not really feel they need to live by the same rules or have the same responsibities for their action as do the rest of the folks.

only little kids and polititions can get away with using the "im sorry and i wont do it again" bull@!$%# normal people like me would be in jail for the rest of our lives probably

You mean the wars Obummer kept funding for the past 3 years with the billions of dollars he borrowed from China?

@kittykat-346842

God, what a moron!!! I bet you care what the Kardashians are doing too, don't you.

King Juan Carlos, Chavez says "Shut up".

How do you know he's a king?

Because he hasn't got $hit all over him!

I hope the elephant broke his hip!!!

what a ROYAL JERK!!

@kittykat-346842

Like GW did not take vacations? You are just another one of those haters. Get the facts before you spout and you won't seem so foolish. GW Bush spent far more money on his stupid wars.

Not that I agree with derailing this thread but since you are interested in facts, the Obama siimtulus cost more money than the war in Iraq and accomplished about as much. Well, technically you could probably make the argument that the war in Iraq created more jobs than the so-called "stimulus" but regardless, they were both an epic waste of taxpayer money. The fact that Bush was a bad President is hardly a valid excuse to vote for our current President who is every bit as bad.

Again, I don't know if the elepants in question were "endangered" or not -- but the fact of the matter is that the Royals do get their money from the people. They do not hold down real jobs. Also a "FACT" if an old "bull" elephant or a horse had broken it's hip -- it would be"put down" -- because it more humane, faster and yes -- cost less than the whole "healing process" would cost-- for those who are bringing up President Obama and his vacations -- if you really research that on a 'real" informational website -- NOT FOX -- you would find that George W Bush did in fact take more vacations than Obama has to date. And as far as the cost of the wars (again, they were started under, but not legally funded under Bush). I am no fan of the wars, myself-- But if you have any knowledge about any "war effort" -- you can not just cut and run -- when you get bored with it -- You must 'scale down'-- which is exactly what the President is doing. Is it fast enough for some -- No. But on the other hand -- there are those (mostly on the right) who want to keep going and also re-start the war in Iraq and also expand fighting with Iran. -- By the way -- it is intersting that many of those who are the most for war never serviced a day in uniform in a war zone -- and at best, just played "soldier" for a short while safe and sound in the USA. Bush spent eight years digging us into these holes (economic and wars) -- Wouldn't you think it just might take a little bit more time to fix everything and get our troops home? Please don't hate education and reading and writing folks , Knowledge is a good thing -- get the real facts-- you might just "learn something" -- much to the displeasure of FOX (Not) news.

@The Painful Truth-2712888

I am no fan of the wars, myself-- But if you have any knowledge about any "war effort" -- you can not just cut and run -- when you get bored with it -- You must 'scale down'-- which is exactly what the President is doing.

LOL! BS! What we are doing now is nation building and our current President is every bit as culpable as the last. Stop making excuses for him. He is pandering to the same crowd Bush did with his "scale down" garbage. And did you forget that it was Obama that championed the surge in Afghanistan? A surge can in no way be considered "scaling down". And before you come back with the nonsense about him pulling out of Afghanistan please do recall that it is happening ONLY because he utterly failed when he tried to negotiate a longer stay with the Afghan government. So many hypocrites on the left protested the wars daily right up to the point that Obama took office. Now they are nowhere to be seen and the best we get from liberals is "I'm no fan of wars myself--BUT, (insert excuse here)"

King Juan Carlos' actions are DESPICABLE on multiple levels and for multiple reasons!

El rey Juan Carlos debe abdicar el trono. Es inexcusable de matar elefantes para deporte y diversion. Los elefantes son animales muy inteligentes y ademas ellos son compremedios. Una persona que matara a estos animales no debe representar la gente de Espana. El rey ES Espana asi mientras el es rey Espana es una pais que mata animales compremetido para deporte. Pues, las corridas de toros todavia ocure alli asi no es una sorpresa. Sin ferguenza!

John Jones,

What Obummer has to do with this matter?

So he went elephant hunting. Who cares? Elephants are hunted all the time and they do need to be controlled too! Too many people think with their feelings and refuse to understand nature and how it works. If man did not go hunt the animals, nature would take care of them for us and the whole animal would be wasted to nature.

Elephants get old and die, they also starve when there are too many of them for the habitat to support, that is why we allow hunting. We hunt them because if we don't, they will die anyway. So, weepy critter lovers, would you rather an animal dies of starvation (the long and painful way), or get culled(the quick and relatively painless way), either way, they are going to die. It applies to all other animals in the world too.

I would be embarrassed if my country still had kings and queens. What a ridiculous waste of money. The public funds their extravagant lifestyles and they do little to nothing in return (except spend money).

@scopata messico The president has the most stressful job in the world, I don't blame him. And he does have a salary, he does get paid for being in office, he does work, and even pays taxes, that's HIS money now, he used HIS money for those trips. You'd want to take a break if you had to deal with little @!$%#s like you too. Using tax payer money is a CRIME he would have been IMPEACHED if he did that, he has a full republican congress looking for any possible way to get rid of him, they'd impeach him if they had a good reason to.

This guy isn't sorry. He's been hunting elephants since at least 2006. He is sory that he got caught and people are upset about it. I hope his hip hurts!

Lest anyone forget that the spoiled Trump boys ALSO went "hunting" and killed some elephants and other rare wild animals. The picture of one of them holding the cut off tail of an elephant was enought to make me sick. As mymom said... this is no "hunt".. it is ego.. so they can stuff a foot for an ottoman or hang a picture on the wall.

They broke his hip. If an elephant broke my hip, I would eat the whole thing. Probably need 3 freezers and one of those air-tight freeze wrapper things, but I would get it done.

Wives fan, its hunting not "hunting". And those rare species are so rare they find them everywhere. Do you know what rare means?

falconer, obviously you don't get the use of ". It means not real, supposed, etc. There is no actual hunt for an elephant. Slow, large, easy to shoot. Might was well go to one of those caged "hunts" they have in Texas and other states. Rare was a misnomer, should have said endangered, stressed populations, etc. Look up three of the four things they list shot. They are either endangered or vulnerable. They brag about giving the meat to villagers as a saving grace. The water buck is generally nasty meat so what was the reason for
THAT kill??? A head with spiral horns to hang on their wall at home. Gee.. how nice.

As for the elephant breaking the guys hip... how do you know that?? The man is old, probably got startled when the gun went off and lost his balance.

There is no actual hunt for an elephant

I love it when people who have never engaged in an activity feel knowledgeable enough to comment about it. You are incorrect concerning rare AND endangered as nothing that id LEGALLY hunted is endangered.

They are either endangered or vulnerable

Now YOU look up their status in Botswana. Just because their endangered in the Congo doesn't mean their endangered everywhere. Do you understand? Here:

The waterbuck is classified as a low risk, conservation dependent species by the IUCN.

The water buck is generally nasty meat

When did you eat waterbuck? Oh yeah, nevermind.

@wives fan

falconer, obviously you don't get the use of ". It means not real, supposed, etc. There is no actual hunt for an elephant. Slow, large, easy to shoot.

Elephants are one of the most dangerous animals in Africa. The idea that you just walk up to one and shoot it is ludicris.

They brag about giving the meat to villagers as a saving grace. The water buck is generally nasty meat so what was the reason for THAT kill???

And here you show just exactly how clueless you are. You don't think the villagers would eat it because it is in your opinion "nasty". "Bushmeat" is common fare in Africa, it is a generic term used to describe any meat from pretty much any wild creature. Apes, monkeys, and various large rodents are fairly common fare. So do you actually believe these locals would turn down meat from a waterbuck? Really?

That is exactly why he does it -- and still broke a hip in the process. Do you really think this guy is going to run around the jungle with a knife in his teeth and chase down a lion? Sitting in a air-conditoned truck and using a high-powered rifle with a scope is mush more his speed. Wouldn't be surprised if the elepants were in an enclosed space to make it even easier. Mores the shame.

Well, by all means if an animal is dangerous, let's just go out and shoot them all. Guess that means Lions, Rhino's, etc. I also guess you were on the trip to know exactly how much "hunting" these little rich boys actually did. Ever been on a caged hunt in Texas???? Oh, but then I'm sure you think because the animal is dangerous, that makes it a hard hunt as opposed to an easy shot. (not talking about you Painful Truth)

SAVAGE. Wish the elephants had KILLED him.

The people of the local village get the meat and the jobs which entail supporting the hunt. They don't have welfare programs in Africa to feed the hungry. I think they would be happy to see more hunting. Sometimes it is the only meat the villagers get in a year's time.

I would think that if people wanted the elephants to survive, more than the people whose vegatable farms the elephant's destroy are racists.

@DelFairchild-1968594

The people of the local village get the meat and the jobs which entail supporting the hunt.

And because of this the locals now have an incentive to protect an animal that has traditionally been nothing more than a nuisance, destroying crops and breaking down fences. In many countries the elephant has been SAVED because the government allows and controls the legal hunting of them. Because they are now considered a valuable local resource they are vigilantly guarded against poachers by the local populations which has proven to be much more effective than underfunded government protection.

Bottom line, whether you like it or not, where legal elephant hunting is allowed they are making a comeback in a huge way. Where elephant hunting is strictly illegal the poachers are wiping them out.

Groups all over the world are trying to protect elephants because they're over-hunted for their ivory and they're losing their habitat. You're clearly ill-informed about the situation.

What a retard. It is not his money. It's the money that spain stole from other countries and peoples like the Aztecs, Inca's, and treasure hunters that recovered it after the lazy incompetent spanish louts lost it. Spain has nothing it didn't steal from someone else. And as far as I know we do not have a king other than the one the crazy racist morons invented in their own little tiny small dicked minds.

@Marie Haughey

Groups all over the world are trying to protect elephants because they're over-hunted for their ivory and they're losing their habitat. You're clearly ill-informed about the situation.

No Marie, it is YOU who are ill-informed. Elephants are being wiped out by poachers NOT hunters, there is a difference. In countries that allow legal elephant hunting the number of elephants is exploding for the reasons I mention above in #6.2 . Locals that once looked the other way when poachers would come now drive the poachers away to protect what went from being a nuisance to a source of revenue.

Backcountry, your arguing with people that do not understand wildlife management and really don't want to. They have a preconceived notion that fits their tiny world view. There is no way to make them understand the benefits of hunting, it's beyond them.

The king is totally out of touch; hunting in this fashion is barbaric and deplorable; what's next, the return of the Spanish Inquisition and torture for fun?

For those who have said that the hunt is good for the local economy -- that may or not be true -- Bit than again, in our own country it was only alittle over 150 years ago now tha it was considered "good economic sense" to have slaves... (so keps down the labor costs, right?) -- bit things change, don't they!!!???

@The Painful Truth-2712888

For those who have said that the hunt is good for the local economy -- that may or not be true -- Bit than again, in our own country it was only alittle over 150 years ago now tha it was considered "good economic sense" to have slaves... (so keps down the labor costs, right?) -- bit things change, don't they!!!???

You've got to be friggin joking right? I don't recall slaves benefiting in any way from slavery. Elephants benefit greatly from hunting. Perhaps if you think a little harder you can come up with an even more preposterous analogy.

btw- Your screen name makes a ton of sense. Clearly you find the truth so painful that you go to great lengths to avoid it.

Legal hunting is not poaching and has the OPPOSITE effect on the survival of the species.

Plus it makes little wee endowed men feel bigger in certain nether regions...Use a knife, spear or bow if you want to hunt, if you have to use gunpowder you fail.

I hunt with a bow- glad you approve!

I hunt with a bow also........and eat what I kill.

anybody that hunts elephants deserves to brake his hip. they are sorry excuses for humans. king(thats a joke) OR NOT, you are a worthless bastard!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wonder if people who make comments like this:

Plus it makes little wee endowed men feel bigger in certain nether regions...Use a knife, spear or bow if you want to hunt, if you have to use gunpowder you fail.

Have ever been hunting or even been in the woods.

Thats the win-win of the situation. The wildlife authorities get money to aid in conservation (permit fee), the guide gets paid (economic growth/independance), the elephant is harvested (conservation) and the village gets the meat (BBQ).

Mike252242,

Is that post about the king attending a bullfight true? If so, now I really can't stand the guy.

Regarding his apology, I think he's sorry he got caught. At his age, people don't make a decision to do something, and then suddenly have an attack of guilt and remorse. By the time a person is in his 70's, I would think he would have formed fairly clear views about whether hunting is acceptable for him, just in his own mind, as a person.

If we are lucky the bull will kill him.

Kathrine-2967321 - No, the story is not true, just my twisted sense of humor.

Why not Russell? Hunting wild African animals in 2012? These creatures are losing habitat daily, starving people are "harvesting" their tusks for sale to china and japan. WTF??? We need an outmoded, geriatric spanish "king" going after them too? Get real.

@Meg-267733

Why not Russell? Hunting wild African animals in 2012? These creatures are losing habitat daily, starving people are "harvesting" their tusks for sale to china and japan. WTF??? We need an outmoded, geriatric spanish "king" going after them too? Get real.

Sigh, I'm feeling like a broken record now. How can people seem to care about something but then take no time or effort to find out some actual facts. Legal elephant hunting is SAVING elephants. In countries that legalized hunting them the elephant population is exploding, in countries where it is still illegal poachers are wiping them out.

Back Country - Are you sure about what you're posting? Is there really such an elephant population explosion that they need to be harvested? Can you direct me to a website about this?

Re: Green Hunting which I may add is not sport hunting.

Save The Elephants has been involved in developing a viable alternative to the sport hunting of elephants. Whilst sport hunting can contribute to the conservation budget, elephant hunting rapidly depletes the number of mature tusked bulls in an area. This significantly affects the dynamics of a population.

Summertime,

http://www1.american.edu/TED/elephbot.htm

Here is a portion:

Although elephants (Loxodonta africana) can be found in other parts of the country, their distribution is determined by availability of surface water. During the wet seasons, which are not frequent in the country, their distribution is much wider. However during the dry season they concentrate in the Chobe area. This area is situated in the northern part of the country and it is characterized by the Okavango delta - which is an area covering thousands of kilometers of waterways, pools, and islands of varying sizes. In addition to rivers and grassland the delta has big forests and towering trees. It is as a result of this habitat that 99 percent of the overall elephant population is found in this area. The population growth is also influenced by the fact that the Okavango delta falls in and around the Chobe National Parks, Nxai Pan National Park, as well as wildlife management areas. The northern elephant range consists of an area approximately 80 000 square km.
The method that is used for population estimates of elephants is the aerial surveys. According to statistics from the department of wildlife and national parks, as of 1996 the elephant population in the northern range was between 60 000 and 90 000. There is also concentration of close to 1000 in the Tuli block area which is characterized by the Limpopo River.

The management of wildlife in Botswana falls under the Department of Wildlife and National Parks through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (DWNP-MCI). As mentioned before the increased population of elephants can partly be attributed to prudent policies on the part of this ministry. As of the early 1980s when the hunting of elephants was imposed, it was restricted to situations where they were in one way or the other in conflict with human population. This selective shooting has been minimal. Also the government has embarked on anti-poaching activities which include the establishment of anti-poaching units around the country. To try and control the population, the DWNP-MCI has attempted strategies, which had faced various setbacks. One of them has been the Conservation and Management of Elephants in Botswana in 1991 which attempted to maintain the elephant population at the levels of 1990 (which was around 50 000), this was however defeated by the high rate at which the population was increasing.

Falconer - thanks, Summertime

As a veterinarian - and someone with common sense - I do not condone hunting animals whose populations are endangered or threatened. I also have an issue with the killing of "higher" species that emotionally suffer so much when they lose one of their herd members. And no, legal hunting does not prevent poaching! And to the king of Spain: I almost regret the thousands of dollars I spent contributing to the Catalan economy while on vacation last summer!

Bad way to start when you post makes no sense. First, as a veterinarian, I would think your first desire would be the welfare of the species as a whole. Botswana for instance is suffering deforestation due to the high elephant population. In your opinion you shouldn't kill a few to save the whole?

As far as preventing poaching, yes it does. When you have an economic benefit from an activity you want to protect that activity. THe increase in funding from that activity allows increased anti-poaching measures.

And lastly, we have established the elephants in Botswana are not endangered. Obviously you skipped the environmental biology/ecology classes in pre-vet.

@Summertime-549913

Back Country - Are you sure about what you're posting? Is there really such an elephant population explosion that they need to be harvested? Can you direct me to a website about this?

Technically it is not a matter of their population growing to the point that they need to be hunted. It is the hunting that has allowed their population to swell. When people have ownership rights over something, even on a limited scale, they have an incentive to protect it. By allowing locals to benefit from limited hunting those locals have a vested interest in making sure poachers do not steal their source of revenue.

@Joan from Phila.

...and someone with common sense...

If people only had a clue how often their intuition leads them astray we'd be in a much better place, especially in this country where "heart" often trumps "head".

Yes, Russell you are correct about the reforms that the King brought to his country after the death of Franco -- but that has nothing to do with killing an elephant. For those who say that the hunt is really the only way to "preserve them" -- Really? There were elephants before their were folks with rifles to kill them -- nature takes care of itself -- the "circe of life' and all that. It is man that has done things, especially in the last couple of centuries that has had a major negative impact on the earth and the animals. Even President Teddy Roosevelt, a big game hunter himself -- and no wussy boy -- came to realize in the early 1900's that conservation was neccessary to avoid offing all the animals and use up all the natural resources --and if it was true over 100 years ago - it must be even more true today. teddy Roosvelt was right --he was a true "progressive" a real American, a man's man with a brain to match. He was a reader, a writer and soldier and a "peace maker" -- We could use a man like Teddy Roosevelt again --

No it is not. Legal elephant hunting may be the only thing that saves them.

#6.2, #7.3

@fishydigit

In my opinion, killing elephants should be a crime, if it's not already.

It is people who share your opinion who are the biggest threat to elephants and the, albeit unintended, cause of their plight.

#6.2, #7.3

Didn't "The Donalds" sons due the same thing?

So I guess environmental biology, ecology and wildlife biology aren't your strong points.

Sticking meat in the freezer as an excuse for hunting is just BS.

My suggestion is read a scientific journal on wildlife biology or watch a show on wildlife population. Heres a FACT for you:

100 second year whitetail deer will have on average 190 fawns. This is 25% have 1 fawn, 60% haveing 2 and 15% having 3. Now, what does that mean?

Meat in the freezer is a bonus!

AMEN!

I agree. he needs to be held accountable .

Rob,

He had a permit.

@ backcountry164: Glad to see YOU have all the answers. Guess we can all sleep well now! So... please tell us --what was that cure for cancer, again???

Human life over an animals.... wow

People that value animal life as an equivalent to human life are quite simply the most pathetic people to walk on this planet.

It used to be MUCH better to be the King - just ask Mel Brooks.

That's right - human life over animals. When you have people who are ignorant and go around murdering other people and abusing and killing children and animals, they should not be on this Earth. And Had_Enough_Yet you don't know me so you need to keep your pathetic comments to yourself. Seems to me like you are a pathetic person who cares about nobody but yourself.

You go, Tammy.

Get over yourself, Tammy! "... murdering other people and abusing and killing children and animals." That's exactly what the @!$%# I'm talking about. I love how you threw "and animals" in there like a person that kills an animal is just as bad as a person that kills a child. You are @!$%#ing DELUSIONAL and SICK!

You are exactly the pathetic filth I was referring to when I made my original comment.

These 'beautiful animals' are not slow or 'nice' either. They will charge and kill you if they get a mind to do so. Too many people think these wild creatures are cuddly little teddy bears, but they aren't. I'd like to see one of the crybaby animal lovers go try and live their lives amidst these creatures and find out that they really aren't so nice, nor is nature for that matter either.