Naked women safari hunt was hoax admits promoter

A promoter who offered to take men on “Hunting for Bambi” safaris in which they could hunt down naked young women with paintball guns admits that it was a hoax and now faces charges, the mayor of Las Vegas said today.

Promoter Michael Burdick could get six months in jail and a 1,000-dollar fine (€800) for operating without a proper business licence, Mayor Oscar Goodman said.

“I’ll do everything I can to see this man is punished for trying to embarrass Las Vegas,” Goodman said.

Burdick called the misdemeanour summons a waste of taxpayer money.

“I have a licence – it’s hanging on my wall,” Burdick told Associated Press before cutting off questions and referring inquiries to his lawyer, Craig Mueller, who later declined comment.

Burdick found himself the target of women’s groups after he told a Las Vegas TV station that he was selling reservations to men willing to pay up to $10,000 (€8,000) - to hunt down naked women in the desert.

Las Vegas officials investigated, and said Burdick admitted that the safaris were just a hoax intended to promote the “Hunting for Bambi” videos that Burdick sells. The videos are marketed as depicting nude women being hunted by men who have paid for the privilege.

But the mayor said the videos actually show “actors and actresses, and there wasn’t even the real shooting of paint balls.”

City officials said Burdick sold videotapes through a company owned by his fiancé, Lakana Campbell.

John Redlein, an assistant city attorney, said Burdick offered the hunts at high prices to discourage anyone from actually booking a safari, and he told investigators his Internet site could not even accept credit card charges in the amount necessary to reserve a hunt.