Numerous nations have engaged in animal hunting. Hunting is a valuable method for learning more about the population of wildlife and their interactions with people. This practice has generated a lot of debate, though, as it can be seen as either environmentally friendly or as needless killing.
Although this activity is frequently referred to as “sport,” many would contend that this term does not adequately describe it. Does hunting benefit or harm the environment?
The Wildlife Society claims that the majority of Americans who support conservation are hunters, even though many of them have been turned away by organizations that support animal rights because hunting is inhumane.
These parties’ determination to outlaw hunting is thought to stem from reports of poachers taking animals for their tusks or hunters taking the lives of endangered species.
Table of Contents
Is Hunting Good or Bad for the Environment?
Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of hunting to make our judgment.
Pros of Hunting
- It controls wildlife populations
- It is a way to improve personal exercise
- It broadens one’s understanding of Mother Nature
- It offers a method of survival
- It provides a source of revenue
- It can reduce automotive accidents
- Can assist you in ensuring your supply of meat
- People will pay more for beef
- Hunting can help to avoid factory farming
- May help to prevent accidents between cars and wildlife
1. It controls wildlife populations
Deer may do a great deal of damage quickly. They are opportunistic creatures that can consume over 700 different kinds of plants without risk. They are also flexible, relocating to suburban and community areas in search of safety, food, and cover.
They are capable of causing several thousand dollars worth of damage in a single day to a single piece of property. One strategy for keeping the local wildlife population under control is hunting.
2. It is a way to improve personal exercise
Hiking into forested areas, setting up a stand, camp, or blind, and enduring occasionally challenging conditions are all necessary for hunting. It’s a novel approach to working on your own, particularly considering the restricted food alternatives available when hunting.
3. It broadens one’s understanding of Mother Nature
It takes knowledge of the outdoors to be a proficient hunter. You have to be able to identify the behaviors and tracks of animals. In the unlikely event that an animal escapes, you should be able to follow it.
It’s an opportunity to learn about nature in a way that’s not possible by sitting in front of a TV or taking a well-maintained nature trail.
4. It offers a method of survival
The main way that many people get protein-rich foods on the table is through hunting. In these societies, no part of the animal is wasted; the hide is used to make blankets or clothing, and the antlers are fashioned into practical tools.
Hunting helps those who might find lost survive by providing them with a food source to use while they wait for help.
5. It provides a source of revenue
Many US environmental programs receive funding from the hunting industry. States also use the money they receive from hunting for other purposes. A deer license in Washington State costs $44.90 per household, per individual.
It costs $95.50 per person to license deer, elk, bears, and cougars. Licenses to hunt moose, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats are $332 per person and are given out at random.
6. It can reduce automotive accidents
An estimated 200 people die each year in car crashes involving deer in the United States. Insurance companies and car owners typically pay out over $4 billion annually to cover the costs of the damage these accidents cause to their vehicles.
It’s estimated that there are over 1.2 million incidents on US roadways annually. Hunting contributes to population declines, which may also lower the overall number of accidents.
7. Can assist you in ensuring your supply of meat
You will also be able to guarantee your meat supply through hunting. In addition to ensuring their meat supply, successful hunters will be able to provide some of their harvested meat to friends and family.
Professional hunters may even provide meat for grocery stores to sell to consumers. As a result, hunting can aid in ensuring that our society has a sufficient quantity of wholesome food.
8. People will pay more for beef
If you hunt for your food, you probably appreciate it more since you are aware of the amount of work that goes into the hunt. Additionally, you’ll understand that the animal’s life had to be taken, which will make you value meat even more.
This is a really important subject. Nowadays, a large portion of the population simply doesn’t care or know where their meat comes from. They don’t realize that an animal had to die for them; they just purchased it from their neighborhood supermarket.
Therefore, hunting can be a terrific way to teach people where their meat originates from and how much effort and mental toughness are required to secure ourselves with bush meat, thereby raising awareness of the worth of and appreciation for our meat.
9. Hunting can help to avoid factory farming
As purchasing meat from factory farms often entails several issues, we should endeavor to steer clear of them.
Hunting your meat could be a fantastic method to stop supporting factory farming, as it allows you to ensure your meat supply without requiring you to purchase it from traditional retailers.
Therefore, if you strongly oppose factory farming, you could wish to acquire the skills necessary to hunt to generate your meat and provide a positive example for everyone around you.
10. May help to prevent accidents between cars and wildlife
Throughout the year, there are often a lot of collisions between local wildlife and automobiles. Animals are drawn to car headlights, especially at night, and occasionally deer and other animals will jump in front of your moving vehicle.
Not only does this harm the surrounding fauna, but it can also result in dangerous mishaps, some of which are fatal. Consequently, it may make sense in some areas to increase hunting to decrease the population of animals that could result in catastrophic auto accidents to lower the number of those incidents.
Cons of Hunting
- It is more of a sport than a necessity of life
- It might lead to a decline in the number of animals.
- Overhunting can be a problem
- Game pits may endanger nearby wildlife
- Trophy hunting
- Can contribute to the endangerment of species
- It might result in abusive behavior
- It may cause animals to suffer
- It may be cost-prohibitive
1. It is more of a sport than a necessity of life
Finding a trophy to put on our ancestors’ wall was not usually the goal of hunting. To put food on their tables, they hunted for what they needed. In the modern era, hunting has transformed into a recreational activity.
Some hunters even take photos of their kills without thinking about what will happen to the corpse. Hunting for the mere pleasure of it is a general disrespect for the natural world.
2. It might lead to a decline in the number of animals.
Because some portion of the animal was thought to be valuable, several animal species have been hunted to the point of endangered status. Hunting has caused the extinction of several animals.
According to Mother Nature News, thirteen animals, including the Tasmanian tiger, the passenger pigeon, and the quagga, have been hunted to extinction in the last 200 years alone.
3. Overhunting can be a problem
Overhunting has grown to be a significant issue in many of the nations on our planet. Over the past ten years, the population of several species has drastically decreased due to growing illegal hunting activities and insufficient protection offered by local laws.
4. Game pits may endanger nearby wildlife
To catch animals, some hunters also utilize game pits. However, those game pits frequently result in severe injuries to animals, and in many cases, those severe injuries cause the animal to die sooner or later, even when it is not caught by the game pit.
To preserve our creatures as much as possible and to treat them with the decency they deserve, you should never utilize game pits.
5. Trophy hunting
Trophy hunting is a serious issue, particularly in many of the world’s impoverished areas. On the illicit market, awards such as rhino horns or iron elephant tasks can fetch enormous sums of money.
Because of their former horns and duties, many of those creatures are forced to die. Governments everywhere should make every effort to stop this type of hunting since it is a serious problem.
6. Can contribute to the endangerment of species
Hunting also has the potential to exacerbate the issue of endangered animals. Numerous animal populations have declined in recent years, and if humans carry on hunting them as we have in the past, there’s a good probability that many species will go extinct or become endangered.
As a result, it is imperative to preserve those species. You should be aware of which species are already in danger of extinction and abstain from hunting them to give their populations a chance to rebound.
7. It might result in abusive behavior
When hunting deer in particular, some hunters have turned to feeding stations and lures to make it “easier” to fill their tags.
Giving deer food increases their degree of domestication and eliminates many of the advantages that are mentioned when talking about the pleasures of hunting. It would be like claiming to be a great hunter after shooting a cow to have beef outside the barn.
8. It may cause animals to suffer
A clean kill shot is roughly the same as what happens when an animal is prepared for food at a butcher or abattoir. Animal suffering might result from the wounds that hunters inflict when they miss.
A few wounds can potentially render the animal unfit for human eating. Suffering can result from any damage. If the animal survives, its pain can last for an indefinite amount of time.
9. It may be cost-prohibitive
The goal of Hunter’s safety courses is to advance awareness, knowledge, and skill. They aren’t always reasonably priced. Completing a hunter education course typically costs $20 per person. Depending on the kind of weapon being used or the species being hunted, there can be extra costs.
You also need to include the expense of clothes, a gun, or another hunting tool, such as a bow. Because of this, hunting may become too expensive for certain households to afford.
Conclusion
Since the impacts of hunting differ depending on the nation, region, ecological conditions, and species, it is challenging to generalize about them. For example, if black bear hunting was predicated on sustainable numbers, the environment would benefit. Here, hunters have a part to play in managing the population.
If it is done ethically, properly, and under stringent regulations, hunting animals can be good for the environment. As part of their management policy, certain national parks permit hunting under certain restrictions.
But some hunters kill species that are on the verge of extinction in addition to overhunting (whether for deer or eggs). In conclusion, depending on how it is regulated and whether stringent enforcement of habitat preservation legislation occurs, hunting can have a positive or negative impact on the ecosystem.
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A passion-driven environmentalist by heart. Lead content writer at EnvironmentGo.
I strive to educate the public about the environment and its problems.
It has always been about nature, we ought to protect not destroy.