Texas Tech Cheerleader Kendall Jones Getting Blasted for Hunting

Kendall Jones, 19, from Cleburne, Texas, is a sophomore member of Texas Tech’s cheer squad, but that’s not why she’s trending worldwide at this moment.

Jones’ Facebook page, Kendall Takes Wild,  has attracted tens of thousands of animal rights activists who are furious about her chosen summer pastime. You see, she’s already bagged the “Big 5” of African sport hunting (lion, elephant, cape buffalo, leopard and rhino) and is well on her way to getting the “Dangerous 7” as well (lion, leopard, hippo, elephant, rhino, buffalo and crocodile).

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Ultimately, what has folks in an uproar and what’s pushing the story around the world from Australia to the UK, is the endangered nature of some of her kills and the cavalier attitude she expresses in some of her photos. Every post on her page (now flooded with over 50,000 Likes) is inundated with spiteful insults and even death threats.

One photo of a leopard she recently killed drew particularly nasty comments, to which Jones replied:

"“We hunted Leopard in a Communal Lands area of Zimbabwe where leopard had killed 107 head of cattle over a single year. There are many parts of Zimbabwe where there is an abundant population of Leopard that wreak havoc on the livestock of the farmers in the village. Instead of the villagers killing the leopard to prevent livestock damage, permits are sold to hunters to do this for them. By selling the permits, not only is a problem animal taken care of, but the money for the permit goes back into the community for water wells, schools and community improvements. These people in this area live in mud huts and have no electricity, the money derived from hunting is badly needed to help just provide the bare necessities such as water and shelter. All of these people pretty much work on a barter system of trading crops, chickens, goats and cattle between each other to live throughout the year. After 14 days of hard hunting, getting up at 3am, walking miles upon miles cutting tracks, I finally took my leopard. This is most definitely the hardest hunt I have ever been on. Thanks Comre Safaris for this experience of a lifetime.”"

Kendall Jones may not be the patron saint of animal lovers, but her chosen summer activities are perfectly legal and it can be argued promotes conservation practices and communities in underdeveloped Africa by creating jobs, supplying underfed villages with weeks worth of fresh meat, and providing much needed funding to local and national anti-poaching efforts (via gunnhook.com).

No matter how you feel about the issue, hateful comments and death threats are never OK.

But I imagine this is how most Red Raider fans really feel.