Jump directly to the content
Exclusive
Game On

Big game hunter Olivia Nalos Opre reveals she got 1000 hate messages an HOUR when Cecil the lion died and there’s a £40,000 bounty on her head… but she vows to keep hunting for the ‘good of the wildlife’

The mum-of-four says she will carry on despite constant threats

A BIG game hunter has revealed she received over 1000 hate messages in an HOUR when Cecil the lion was shot and once had a bounty of £40,000 on her head.

Speaking in the week that huntress Melania Capitan was found dead in a suspected suicide, after being targeted online, American Olivia Nalos Opre has opened up about the abuse and death threats she had suffered.

 Olivia with a male African lion which is one of three she has shot in her time
9
Olivia with a male African lion which is one of three she has shot in her timeCredit: Olivia Nalos Opre

The mum-of-four told The Sun Online: “I’ve had £40,000 ($50,000) bounty on my head with my home address posted and constant abuse and threats.

“I didn’t know Melania but I understand her struggle because it’s something I have dealt with for decades, but the hatred is entirely due to ignorance.

“What Melania went through was so intense.

“It takes a certain kind of person to be constantly abused.  It’s hard to be called an evil murderer and I’ve been called all sorts of other names.

“They call me the huntress but with a C! Sometimes I have to laugh it off; otherwise I’d be in constant tears with the vitriol spewed at me by the anti-hunting community.

“I can’t put myself in Melania’s head but it’s hard and I know the anguish.

"Walter Palmer was being attacked [after Cecil the Lion was killed] at the same time as myself, and I received thousands of messages in an hour, which was upsetting.

 Olivia with another lion shot in Benin. Although it is lacking a mane the lion is a male
9
Olivia with another lion shot in Benin. Although it is lacking a mane the lion is a maleCredit: Olivia Nalos Opre

“But I’m OK with it and have learned how to deal with it.";

Olivia, from Montana, began hunting as a teenager and is now the co-host of a TV show, Eye Of The Hunter, along with husband Tom, as well as being an outdoor adventure consultant for World of Hunting Adventure.

The 40-year-old has hunted game on six continents, including eight countries in Africa and on 37 safaris - killing over 100 unique species of game, including lions, hippos and buffalo.

 Olivia and husband Tom on an Alpine hunt in Switzerland
9
Olivia and husband Tom on an Alpine hunt in SwitzerlandCredit: Tony Bynum

But the former beauty queen claims the backlash against hunters is down to a lack of understanding of what they do, and how they actually protect the very species they target.

Hunters pay between £60,000 and £150,000 for an African lion hunt and a great deal of that money is ploughed back into the hunting areas to help keep poachers away and protect the remaining animals.

Having killed three African lions, Olivia said: “I understand why people have a lot of anger towards people who kill lions because it is an animal synonymous with ‘Hakuna Matata’ singing cartoons, but the reality is we all play a part in the circle of wildlife.

 Olivia and the Benin tribesmen with the hippo they asked her to kill for meat
9
Olivia and the Benin tribesmen with the hippo they asked her to kill for meatCredit: Olivia Opre Nalos

“But it’s important to hunt them responsibly because, if the lion has no intrinsic value for the local tribe, they will destroy the lion - usually by poisoning an entire pride and any other animals that comes in contact with the poison; after all, the lion is an incredible threat to both themselves and their precious livestock.

“But if you say to the tribes-people, ‘we’re going to sell this lion for £60,000 dollars, which is going to provide you with a paying job (like tracking, skinning, cooking, cleaning, anti-poaching control), go back into putting anti-poaching teams in the bush, drilling water holes for animals and people alike and bringing in medical and dental care for your community, they’re going to say ‘OK! We now understand the reason to look after this animal because it helps the future of my tribe.’

 Olivia with a rhino that she hit with a tranquiliser dart in order to help a vet with scientific studies
9
Olivia with a rhino that she hit with a tranquiliser dart in order to help a vet with scientific studiesCredit: Olivia Nalos Opre

“That gives you the ability to involve and engage the tribe in protecting something they loathe.”

The 40-year-old defended Walter Palmer, the dentist who killed Cecil in 2015, and the hunters who killed his son Xanda last week, and she said legal government-authorised hunting should not be confused with poaching.

She said: “We take a lion that has been kicked out of a pride and is past its prime. A cat like Cecil was 13; similar to a 105-year-old man. He was very old, kicked out of his pride, scavenged for food and easily came to meat placed by those hoping to snap photos of this great cat.

 Olivia is a former Mrs Nebraska
9
Olivia is a former Mrs NebraskaCredit: Olivia Nalos Opre

“Walter Palmer killed a cat that was way past his prime and it was legal. The same with Xanda.

“The hunters of Xanda had wildlife officials there to check that everything was by the book and that the lion they were about to kill was of age and the proper lion to take.

“Wildlife is a renewable resource. They have babies and proliferate when the environment is conducive to flourishing – such environments are carefully managed and cared for by the safari outfitters.  There are quota systems in place as determined by government-issued wildlife biologists which are funded by the fees hunters pay.

“If an area is given a quota of three lion, many outfitters I know (licensees who protects the wildlife and hunting area) will assess their area-populations, and in an effort to protect the wildlife populations, the outfitter may responsibly decide not to take all three lions on quota; instead only one or two to ensure his safari-hunters only take animals that are past their prime.

"After all, the outfitter is in this for the long haul and protecting the animals he hunts ultimately ensures his reputation and longevity in the hunting industry.

 Olivia with an Alpine Ibex in Switzerland in 2015
9
Olivia with an Alpine Ibex in Switzerland in 2015Credit: Tony Bynum

“The local communities and countries don’t have enough funding to put out adequate anti-poaching teams; outfitters are the ones who put out teams who check for snares and pursue poachers, arresting them when they can; although, because the poachers life is on the line (meaning they’ll serve life in prison) they are usually shooting at the anti-poaching team.”

She added: “There is a major difference between hunters and poachers.

“Hunters despise poachers because we are trying to make sure that wildlife thrives and proliferates and we can’t do that when poachers annihilate an entire herd of elephants.

“That’s frustrating for legal hunters. I have been face to face with poachers and held my hunting rifle on them until a government official could arrive to arrest them. I’ve seen the hatred in their eyes, but ultimately all they want to do is make money and preserving wildlife means nothing to them.”

Ethical hunters, she insists, give the meat to the local community and are not just hunting for “heads”.

She said: “To help the community is the responsibility of every ethical hunter.

“By law you can’t import the meat to the US so I give the meat to the less fortunate, be it an Aboriginal tribe, local food shelter, church or African tribe, I will give the meat to the people and that is the ethical code a hunter must uphold.

“Anybody who doesn’t utilise the meat, I consider a poacher. Taking the life of an animal for only it’s a head is wrong.

“The biggest animal I have killed is a hippo. I wasn’t interested in hunting hippo but I was the last hunter of the season and the tribe desperately needed meat.

“When I was asked to hunt it, I said ‘I will hunt the hippo under one condition. That I am allowed to give one leg of it to the women and children in the hospital.’

“ In this part of Africa, the tribes feed like lions. The men eat first, the women get the scraps and the babies get hardly anything. So that’s why it was important to me to provide this hippo leg to the women and children in hospital."

 

 The couple with a Blackbuck Antelope in Argentina 2015
9
The couple with a Blackbuck Antelope in Argentina 2015Credit: Tony Bynum

The mum-of-four, who met her husband through the Extreme Huntress competition, which she entered, says she understands the hatred aimed towards her.

She said: “I understand where the anti-hunters are coming from because they only see me as a ‘murderer’ killing an animal and won’t take the time to understand the important role hunters play in wildlife conservation.

 

“I see me and other responsible hunters giving back to the community and ultimately preserving the world's great wildlife. I will never take more than I’m given and I certainly don’t abuse it. There are people that do but ethical hunters are not in that category.”

At home, Olivia and Tom shoot deer, elk, turkey and pheasants to feed the four children, aged 13, 11, 10 and three.

And the older kids even go hunting with them.

She said: “We have taken them out hunting and it allows a really great connection that you don’t get in a normal home environment.

"It’s camaraderie you can’t get any other way. You can take them to the cinema or out for dinner but when you are out in the field it’s just the two of you, and it creates a bond like no other.”

 Olivia hunting with dogs
9
Olivia hunting with dogsCredit: Olivia Nalos Opre

The former Mrs Nebraska says hunting brought her and her father together in her teens, and would be a great idea for a first date.

“My parents were divorced and hunting gave my father and I the opportunity to spend time together,” she said.

“Being in the field and hunting together is a really good way to get to know anybody. You can see them struggle, fail and triumph and reach limits they never thought they could reach.

“Honestly it’s the best way to date somebody too, because you do struggle and it can be life or death and that’s why being in the outdoors, especially where dangerous game live, you can get a true sense of who a person is.”