Macho man Putin wields crossbow to shoot darts at whale while on rubber dingy

allanb49

RUSSIAN Prime Minister Vladimir Putin fired crossbow darts at a gray whale off Russia's far eastern coast in the latest in a series of man-versus-nature stunts designed to cultivate the image of a macho leader.

Putin held his balance in a rubber boat that was being tossed around in choppy waters off the Kamchatka Peninsula, and eventually hit the whale with a special arrow designed to collect skin samples.

"I hit it at the fourth try!" a beaming Putin, kitted out in black-and-orange waterproof suit and black beanie, yelled to a camera crew from the boat.

A biologist with him displayed the skin sample and said it would allow experts to determine where the whale came from.

When the boat skidded onto the beach, a bouyant Putin hopped off and made a beeline for waiting reporters. Clearly in his element, Putin replied jovially to a question as to whether the endeavor was dangerous.

"Living in general is dangerous," he quipped. Asked why he got involved, he simply said, "Because I like it. I love the nature."

But nature may be under threat by a seismic survey being conducted nearby by Russia's top oil company, Rosneft. The International Fund for Animal Welfare released a statement on Wednesday condemning the 2-month, pre-drilling survey as potentially damaging to the gray whales. In the course of exploration, oil companies use seismic air guns and other sources to produce pulses of acoustic energy through the water. Scientists say this is damaging to much marine life, and the timing is bad for the whales, which are currently in a narrow feeding window to store fat for the entire year.

Putin, meanwhile, during his eight years as president and the past two as prime minister, has learned to use television to cultivate the image of a rugged leader beloved by the Russian people.

His mastery of the medium has been on full display in recent weeks as he has taken command of efforts to extinguish the wildfires that swept across much of western Russia and to help the thousands of people who lost their homes.

The message has been that it is Putin, rather than his junior co-leader President Dmitry Medvedev, who is equipped to look after Russia, its people and environment. Putin has been canny about his plans to run in the 2012 presidential election, but has excluded running against Medvedev, saying the two will come to an agreement. Whatever the decision, his action-man lifestyle shows he is not about to recede from public view.

He has been photographed fishing bare-chested in Russia's Altai region, and was shown on television diving into an icy river and swimming the butterfly stroke.

In April he attached a satellite-tracking collar on a tranquilized polar bear. He also has shot a Siberian tiger with a tranquilizer gun and released leopards into a wildlife sanctuary.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/macho-man-putin-wields-crossbow-to-shoot-darts-at-whale/story-e6frg6so-1225910546615



This guy is awesome :P

Kasabian

I think he is compensating

Claasman

Awesome thread title is awesome

hawkwing

Our lad swills pints and smokes fags in Croker

cournioni

hawkwing wrote: »

Our lad swills pints and smokes fags in Croker

Wouldn't like to see him with a crossbow in fairness.

Ush1

Kasabian wrote: »

I think he is compensating

Maybe, he's built like a tank is Putin. Proper Russian.

orourkeda

For a moment I thought we were going to have ourselves a darwin award winner for sinking his own dinghy by shooting it with a bow and arrow

Brendog

What an inspiring human being....

orourkeda

Brendog wrote: »

What an inspiring human being....

I'd say he has some lad on him alright

Brendog

Ush1 wrote: »

Maybe, he's built like a tank is Putin. Proper Russian.

I can see this getting blown out of porportion like the whole chuck norris thing..



"Instead of blood Putin has vodka running in his veins"

"At a school debate someone told Valdmir Putin that nobody cared about his 'in Put'. A strand of charred hair was used to identify the mans body."

"Valdamir Putin is the only human being on the planet able to offend the Japanese when he hunts whale."

"At every UN world leader conference, Valdamir Putin sits at the very back wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket. He makes fart noises and flicks paper balls at Barack Obama and David Cameron. When he leaves the room it is usually on a Harley Davison while blasting 'Whitesnake - Again on my Own' from a boom-box."

starbelgrade

Asked why he got involved, he simply said, "Because I like it. I love the nature."

Yeah - he loves "the nature" so much, he's out in a dingy, firing arrows at an endangered species.

I'd hate to know what he does with things he hates.

moonpurple

word among the whales is
'tough day for us they day this fcker went bald...':rolleyes:

moonpurple

hawkwing wrote: »

Our lad swills pints and smokes fags in Croker

our lad wont be on tv jogging with bodyguards anytime soon so?

triseke

awesome thread title

kieran26

thought it was gonna be about macho man randy savage

brianthebard

starbelgrade wrote: »

Yeah - he loves "the nature" so much, he's out in a dingy, firing arrows at an endangered species.

I'd hate to know what he does with things he hates.

Did you read the part where he was helping to collect skin samples and not actually endangering the life of the animal? Didn't think so...

Wreck

starbelgrade wrote: »

Yeah - he loves "the nature" so much, he's out in a dingy, firing arrows at an endangered species.

I'd hate to know what he does with things he hates.

Reading comprehension fail.

starbelgrade

brianthebard wrote: »

Did you read the part where he was helping to collect skin samples and not actually endangering the life of the animal? Didn't think so...

This is AH.. the rule is that you don't read the OP fully, then post a wildly inaccurate & possibly inflammatory remark.

Brendog

starbelgrade wrote: »

This is AH.. the rule is that you don't read the OP fully, then post a wildly inaccurate & possibly inflammatory remark.

starbelgrade is xenophobic...

i hate that guy stupid f***in slap head hope a whale eats him

starbelgrade

Brendog wrote: »

starbelgrade is xenophobic...

I'm zenophobic. Can't stand Buddhists.

ejmaztec

Zyaire Petite Rent wrote: »

i hate that guy stupid f***in slap head hope a whale eats him

Enjoy your infraction and one-way trip to Siberia for abusing Vlad.:eek: