Is Hunting a Kickass Conservation Science?
As Namibia auctions rights for managed hunting of black rhinos, FHM wonders it it’s right to kill animals in the name of saving them...
Cases for hunting
Is hunting a safe sport?
7 times more are the chances of you getting hurt while cheerleading than while hunting. 0.0005% of hunters actually die hunting while almost 1% of the professional soccer players die on the field annually.
It controls accidents
After a managed hunt of deer led to a drop of more than 50% in car-deer accidents in Montgomery County, it was said that the reason was that the deer population that stayed closer to human civilisation was reduced during the hunting. Also, the hunt ensured that there was less damage to property and life in the area, there was more food per deer here, and that the remaining population of deer could live comfortably.
Lowers environmental degradation
Almost a decade ago, South Africa had to reintroduce elephant hunting to check on the rising population of elephants who had started to become a risk to humans and other animals. Their population was rising by 5% annually and was expected to double by 2020. The killing of 2000 elephants was said to be enough to cut down the numbers and executions were conducted by flying sharpshooters in helicopters.
Helps raise funds
Namibia auctions hunting opportunities to people from time to time to raise money for conservation. This year, a Dallas-based hunting consultant, Corey Knowlton has won the hunting auction for $350,000. Only hunting animals that are old, no longer capable of breeding and are considered a threat to other younger animals is allowed and all of the soon to be gunned down animals have already been marked by the government.
Some countries can cope with the killings
Trophy hunting is quite popular in African countries and a lot of people fly out of Britain, America, Germany and Russia to hunt giraffes. The 2-3 day hunting expedition costs £10,000. While worldwide the numbers of giraffe’s have indeed plummeted, some experts believe that countries like Namibia where giraffe hunting is legal the population is increasing and that hunting is sustainable.
Cases against hunting
It’s for pleasure
No matter how much the supporters of hunting talk big about funding conservation and restoring balance, no one is ready to buy their claim that it’s not primarily about pleasure.
Some animals that are being killed are already extinct in other regions
Latest figures show that there are just 80,000 giraffes left worldwide, which means they have nearly halved from 1988. International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List has already suggested giraffes to be listed as a threatened species in West Africa and DR Congo. Giraffes are already extinct in Angola, Mali and Nigeria.
No death is painless
Legalised hunting supporters insist on how one bullet through the brain will lead to a quick and painless death, but can there really be a death that’s painless? What if the shooter misses the target and shoots another animal, which is young, or say the bullet misses the brain and hits the animal in the neck... Will their death be still painless?
Who is trespassing?
We can claim to kill deer because they came too close to human habitat, but the reality is that humans are encroaching upon the animals’ territory and not the other way round.
Why not relocate?
If there is an excess of a particular animal in one country, why can’t they be relocated to other geographical locations where they are either extinct or on the verge of it?
Man fact: Rhino horn is valued at ₹39,00,000/kg, much higher than gold
From the March 2014 issue of FHM India.
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