Idaho Wildlife Commissioner Blake Fischer Resigns Over Dead Baboon, Leopard, Giraffe Photos

Idaho Fish and Game Commissioner Blake Fischer resigned from his position after he emailed photos of his recent hunting trip in Africa, showing him with several dead baboons, a giraffe, and a leopard.

Fischer sent his letter of resignation to Gov. Butch Otter on Oct. 16, and it was accepted, USA Today reported. He admitted to using poor judgment when he shared the photos.

“Please consider this letter as a statement of my resignation from the Idaho Fish & Game Commission. I recently made some poor judgments that resulted in sharing photos of a hunt in which I did not display an appropriate level of sportsmanship and respect for the animals I harvested,” he said in the letter, according to USA Today.

He added: “While these actions were out of character for me, I fully accept responsibility and feel it is best for the citizens of Idaho and sportsmen and women that I resign my post. I apologized to the hunters and anglers of Idaho who I was appointed to represent and I hope that my actions will not harm the integrity and ethic of the Idaho Fish & Game Department moving forward.”

Idaho Fish and Game Commissioner Blake Fischer resigned from his position after he emailed photos of his recent hunting trip in Africa, showing him with several dead baboons. (Office of Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter)

A photo of him and a family of dead baboons was published by media outlets this week after Fischer had sent an email to more than 100 contacts, according to the report.

“So I shot a whole family of baboons. I think she got the idea quick,” he wrote in the email. ”After we left all of the animals in Africa that were still alive we pretty happy we were on a plane headed home!”

Otter said he called on Fischer to resign.

“I have high expectations and standards for every appointee in state government,” Otter said in a press release, as reported by The Idaho Statesman. “Every member of my administration is expected to exercise good judgment. Commissioner Fischer did not. Accordingly, I have accepted his resignation from the Idaho Fish and Game Commission.”

The Idaho governor’s office said it had received more than 1,100 emails and 320 phone calls about Fischer, a spokesperson told the Statesman.

Fred Trevey, a former Fish and Game commissioner, sent an email to Fischer and said he should resign.

“I’m sure what you did was legal, however, legal does not make it right,” Trevey wrote in an email to him, according to the Statesman. He added: “Sportsmanlike behavior is the center pin to maintaining hunting as a socially acceptable activity.”

Before the photos were released, Fischer said he hadn’t done anything wrong.

“I didn’t do anything illegal. I didn’t do anything unethical. I didn’t do anything immoral,” he told the paper. “... I look at the way Idaho’s Fish and Game statute says we’re supposed to manage all animals for Idaho, and any surplus of animals we have we manage through hunting, fishing and trapping. Africa does the same thing.”