Here’s the deal, sport and trophy hunting is a pretty sucky way to pass your time. We can think of about a zillion other ways to amuse ourselves than to wander off into the woods in an effort to blast an animal to smithereens so you have something cool to put on your wall. Seriously, like, can’t you people just sit around the campfire and play Cards Against Humanity? Try it, it’s super fun.

Must have been dating a trophy hunter.

The thing is, people care about animals and don’t want to see them needlessly exploited, abused or used for human diversion. Take models Maria Sidorova and Lidia Fetisova, for instance. They feel as though animals should be treated with respect, so they posed in fur coats with a bear that’s been trained to perform for human entertainment in an effort to show that we should all start hugging wild animals on the regular, since that’s the normal way to respect them.

“You’re my best friend Mr. Bear. That’s why I’m wearing your other friend. Less friendship competition for me.”

You guys … what?

“We wanted to show the natural harmony between humans and bears,” photographer Olga Baransteva said of the project. “It is about showing a traditional friendship – just like between two human friends – but between humans and the bears in Russia.” She went on to say, “We all need to live side-by-side in harmony and not hunt our fellow citizens who live in the forest.”

“Hey, hey, hey, let’s slow this down a little, okay? I don’t really like you like that.”

Okay, here’s the deal. That’s great. Don’t hunt wild animals for fun. Please, we implore you. We also implore you not to train them to do tricks or to snuggle up with them in a bathing suit because, while this particular bear is fighting the natural urge to claw these girls’ faces off in the hopes of getting a cookie, a truly wild bear won’t. If you want to honor an animal, you need to leave it alone. That doesn’t just mean not plugging it full of holes, that also means not laying in bed with it.

“It would be so easy just to squish her head right where she lays.”

Honestly, we kind of wanted to think this story was a joke. From the bear’s “rescuer,” who just happens to be a professional circus trainer, to the fact that an anti-hunting campaign would also try to serve as a message that bears and people should be buddies like Harry and Lloyd from “Dumb and Dumber,” the entire thing is just sort of funny. Tragically, it isn’t funny in the “haha” sense.

“WHY ARE YOU WEARING A BATHING SUIT IN THE SNOW?”

Like any piece of “art” however, there definitely is a lesson to be learned here. Hunting for sport and killing an animal for the sake of fun, excitement, bragging rights, etc. is uncool. Don’t do that. Making the point that humans and animals share a common bond while wearing the skin of that animal is uncool too. Honestly, wouldn’t it have been just a touch creepy if Randal had been wearing a Dante suit at the end of Clerks 2 when he delivered that big speech about how they were best friends? Yeah, so don’t do that either.

“This is cool and all, but I’m not really looking to do the whole, “Look at me I’m Sandra Dee” thing on a bed in the woods…because I don’t do beds…because I’m a frickin’ bear. 

Also, don’t hug wild animals. Don’t approach them at all. Leave them alone to do their thing in the wild. Loving them from afar is perfectly okay, we assure you, they will appreciate that much more. Your face will too.

Image Credits: Daily Mail