Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has been left distressed by the violent killing of Rhinos in South Africa, his country of birth.
Kevin Pietersen, who had moved to England in 2000 from South Africa, is a conservationist and a prominent advocate for the welfare and conservation of endangered animals in South Africa.
In 2018, the swashbuckling batsman opened Umganu Lodge, a luxury resort at the edge of Kruger National Park. The resort serves as both a retreat centre and as a means to increase awareness of endangered species in South Africa.
He also established Saving Our Rhinos Africa & India (SORAI), an Australian charity supporting rhinoceros conservation. Over the years, through his social media, Kevin Pietersen has regularly castigated illegal poaching, particularly that of rhinoceros.
Now, he learned about a premier trophy hunter in South Africa, Chris Van Der Westhuizen, who had put up a photo along with a dead lion that he had killed.
“Hunting these cats is just something special, truly an honor calling this my career and passion!” he captioned the post.
Kevin Pietersen was left utterly disgusted by this act of the hunter. He lambasted this on Twitter and demanded that “Chris needs cancelling”.
Here, check out Pietersen’s raging tweet:
Having just tweeted about the plight of one of the Big 5, I just got sent this from a friend who is horrified by what they saw!
What about this absolute waste of oxygen?!?!
If social media can cancel people, Chris needs cancelling!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/rUUaXs2pEv— Kevin Pietersen? (@KP24) January 17, 2022
“We who work with rhino in particular, realise so little was said about rhino poaching in the past 18 months that people might quite legitimately believe the situation has improved, that the crisis has passed and there are more important issues to focus on – pandemics will do that to a society. It’s time to correct that false impression. Rhino poaching is at a critical level.”
Let’s see WHAT the @englandcricket bosses do about English batting. This has been there for everyone to see for years!
Don’t blame the players, it’s the system!— Kevin Pietersen? (@KP24) January 16, 2022