The Shield of Achilles: Sea Lion Crime

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Sea Lion Crime

The Galapagos Sea Lion, embedded from PBS

This story didn't get much publicity, but it is one of the most appalling, and at the same time, most baffling crimes you will find:

Ecuadorean officials are investigating the slaughter of 53 sea lions from the Galapagos Islands nature reserve, which were found with their heads caved in.
The dead animals included 13 pups, 25 youngsters, nine males and six females.

Galapagos National Park official Victor Carrion told AFP news agency that each was killed by "a strong blow from someone", though the motive is unknown.

They had not been injured in any other way, he said, discounting the notion they had been killed for their parts.
...
In 2001 poachers killed 35 male sea lions in the archipelago, removing their genitals and teeth.

However, according to Mr Carrion none of the animals killed in this latest attack had been mutilated and no cuts were found on their skin or limbs.

That's the part that doesn't make any sense. Why would someone smash the heads of 53 animals and just leave the bodies?

They were not killed for food, trophies, organs, or skins. Fishermen have been known to kill sea lions because they compete for fish, but this happened on a nature reserve, and the sea lions probably would have been worth more than a haul of fish for the day. The only conclusion that comes to mind is that some sick individual(s) slaughtered them for the sheer thrill of it.

An Ecuadorean prosecutor agrees:

The killings had to be committed by humans, said Jaime Estevez, who called it the work of "the criminal mind of some people who enjoy watching these animals suffer."

People who kill other people for the thrill of it are known as sociopaths (or technically now called dissocial personality disorder), and they have no empathy for others or feelings of guilt whatsoever. In other words, pure evil. I'm sure the same concept applies to people who slaughter wild animals for no particular reason.