Idaho's Fish And Game Commissioner Resigns After Receiving Backlash Over Graphic Pictures From His Hunting Trip To Africa

Oct 23, 2018 by apost team

Recently, the Fish and Game commissioner in Idaho resigned because of some backlash about photos he shared online. In the photos, Blake Fischer can be seen smiling with various animals he killed when he took a hunting trip to Africa.

He originally sent the photos in an email to 100 different friends and coworkers. Before long, other people had heard about the images and were outraged.

The photos showed Fischer and his wife posing with different dead animals in Namibia. Some of the animals as seen in the pictures were a waterbuck, an oryx, a leopard and a giraffe. He was also photographed with four baboons.

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Before long, there was an uproar about the emailed photos. People were outraged that Fischer killed a family of baboons and other wild animals. Before long, the governor of Idaho asked for Fischer to resign. On October 15, 2018, Fischer turned in his resignation letter.

According to Governor C.L. Otter, the resignation was necessary because appointees were required to exercise good judgment. By sending out all of the photos, Fischer showed that he lacked good judgment. Once Fischer sent in his resignation letter, the governor accepted it. Fischer is no longer a part of the Idaho Fish and Game Commission.

Before the governor officially asked for his resignation, another former official also suggested that Fischer should resign. Fred Trevey served as the Fish and Game commissioner from 2007 to 2015. He was one of the first officials to say that Fischer should resign.

Trevey said that he was disappointed and dismayed by the pictures of the baboons. Apparently, it was Fischer's wife's first visit to Africa, and she had wanted to see her husband hunting. Beneath the family of dead baboons, Fischer wrote that his wife had caught onto the idea quickly.

Trevey believes that Fischer needed to resign to shield the institution from criticism. The commission is supposed to use hunting as a tool for wildlife management and not indiscriminate hunting. While Fischer was most likely hunting the African animals legally, Trevey does not think that legality is the most important thing in this case. While something might be legal to do, it does not mean that it is the right thing to do.

Trevey was not the only former commissioner to step forward. In one email to the governor, seven former commissioners stated that they believed Fischer had exercised extremely poor judgment. They believed that he should resign.

Even pro-hunting groups called for Fischer's resignation. They pointed to a part of the state's hunting manual that states that hunters should not take graphic photographs of their kills.

While Fischer has resigned, he still does not believe that he has done anything wrong. He recently told the Idaho Statesman that he did not do anything illegal, immoral or unethical. Fischer had previously been appointed to his job in 2014. In 2018, he was reappointed.

His resignation was effective as soon as he turned it in, so the governor's office is now looking for a new commissioner to fill his former post.

What do you think? Do you think Fischer deserved to lose his job? Tell us what you think about this story and see what your friends have to say as well.