African trophy hunting trade show draws protesters to Saskatoon hotel

Blasting a bull horn, Michael Donovan chants loudly with a small group of protestors in downtown Saskatoon.

The Calgary man was one of seven people outside the Hilton Garden Inn where the African Trophy Hunting Trade Show was held Saturday.

“To cut their heads off to adorn a wall is wrong,” Donovan said. “It doesn’t belong in our civilized society at all.”

Birgit Johnstone with African Events Canada has organized hunting trade shows across North America since 2009.

“Hunters are just natural predators,” Johnstone said. “All the meat, skin, and bones get utilized by local African people.”

She said protests only started popping up outside the shows in 2016 because of the controversial killing of Cecil the Lion a year earlier.

“It’s their right to protest as long as they don’t have any defamatory remarks,” she said. “We believe in what we do and provide a service to hunters.”

While the small gathering remained civil, the use of a bull horn may have led to a collision at 22nd Street East and 1st Avenue South, according to Donovan.

“Police asked us to stop the use of the bull horn, but we came to a compromise,” he said. “We told them we would use the bull horn mainly when traffic is stopped.”

Accident at 22nd and 1st by Garden Inn little Chevy car hood getting towed right now #yxe pic.twitter.com/JmpX8RWqpj

— JT Marshall (@jtmarshallCKOM) January 21, 2017

Michael Donovan is a Cgy protestor against trophy hunting, says @SaskatoonPolice asked him to limit during traffic as caused accident #yxe pic.twitter.com/X7IGduMO8d

— JT Marshall (@jtmarshallCKOM) January 21, 2017