Oliver Stone, Richard Donner and Lauren Shuler-Donner, filmmakers who have all worked in New Mexico, have taken a stand in behalf of elderly buffalo there.
Stone, the director who filmed "Natural Born Killers" in New Mexico in 1993, wrote to Gov. Gary Johnson last month opposing a plan to issue licenses to kill aged bulls at Fort Wingate in the western part of the state.Fish and game officials approved a lottery for the licenses last fall because, they said, the animals had lost their teeth and were starving. The plan has been suspended because of a U.S. District Court ruling that the government must conduct an environmental assessment of the impact of the hunt. Two of the nine bulls in question have since died.
"It seems clear that the majority of people are being forced to abide by the wishes of a gun-toting few," Stone wrote in his letter on Feb. 13. "Is that democracy in action? At the very least, the bison at Fort Wingate should be allowed death with dignity, not slaughter at the hands of those collecting souvenirs."
Donner, who directed "Superman: The Movie" - in New Mexico - as well as "Lethal Weapon" and "Maverick," and his wife, who is a producer, have also written a letter of protest.
Alan Richardson, deputy secretary for the New Mexico economic development department, said Thursday: "If you see some of the carnage these guys put on the screen, it is surprising they would take such a stance on this issue. What we're talking about in hunting the buffalo is being humane."