For centuries, humans have hunted animals for their meat to eat, fur and skins for clothing, and even for sport. Even present day, trophy hunting is a popular hobby. However, “It does not make sense morally, economically, biologically, or from a conservation-incentive point of view” (Flocken). Trophy hunting is a serious issue, as it endangers animals and has no point for people to engage in. During the summer of 2015, a well known lion named Cecil was killed in Zimbabwe by an American dentist, Dr. Walter James Palmer. A major uproar was caused in the media, especially since Palmer did not even hunt on legal hunting grounds. “Dr. Palmer admitted to killing Cecil and sent a statement to the Minneapolis Star Tribune stating he believed all …show more content…
At the same time, humans can use these resources for the good of the environment. According to the suggestions of Ed Pitt, humans can “Stop killing so many game animals. Shorten and restrict hunting seasons. Reduce hunting areas. Reduce access. All ATVs should be restricted to private property. More animals die on our highways and railroads than are killed by wolves. Reduce speed limits. Our wildlife protection and law enforcement is ridiculously understaffed and underfunded. Do something about that. Poaching is an ongoing and mostly unpunished crime. All of our planet's diverse and beautiful wildlife is being pushed into extinction.” There is so much we can do to help instead of hurt …show more content…
As a great deal is being done to help endangered wildlife as well as animals in general, there is still a considerable amount of improvements to make. “The exterminating of predators by governments or individuals is wrong-headed, extremely selfish, cruel and the very worst example of wildlife management. It is failed management. In today's backwards and upside-down world, our wildlife needs our protection, not extermination” (Pitt). We need to instill the good values of animals in today’s society so that we may work towards better maintenance of the future lives of these animals. Instead of mounting an animal’s head on the wall as a prize and reducing wildlife population, we should be proud of the variety of species we have on earth and leave them to live free.
Works Cited
Flocken, Jeffrey. “Trophy Hunting: ‘Killing Animals to Save Them is Not Conservation.’” CNN.
Turner Broadcasting System. 19 May 2015. Web. 28 November 2015.
Pitt, Ed. “Stop the Hunting.” Alaska Highway News. Glacier Community Media. 26 November
2015. Web. 28 November 2015.
Stapelkamp, Brent. “Cecil the Lion Killed in Africa.” CBS News. CBS Interactive Inc. N.d. Web.
28 November 2015.
Sutton, Michael. “What’s Wrong with Trophy Hunting.” San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst
Corporation. 30 July 2015. Web. 28 November
And subsequently, new policies and laws are created to give people equal access to wildlife. The question regard conservation is very much alive today. And United State needs conservation of wildlife. And the Federal department responsible for conservation, department of the interior are under attack with President Trump new budget plan. So it’s important to keep pushing for better laws and policies to protect
In the article “Angry Tweets Won’t Help African Lions” first published on 7/1/2016 in The New York Times Richard Conniff attempts to use the recent death of Zimbabwe’s Cecil the lion as a medium for informing readers of the New York Times about what is going on in Africa and the impact these events are having on the lions. Cecil the lion was a mascot of sorts for Zimbabwe until he was hunted down and killed by Walter Palmer in the name of “Trophy Hunting”. The real driving force behind this seems to not necessarily be Trophy hunting, but in fact is the dwindling number of lions in Africa today. As pointed out by Conniff, one overwhelming problem that is affecting the lion's population is the killing of them and their food supply by impoverished
Lindsey, P. A., R. Alexander, L. G. Frank, A. Mathieson, and S. S. Romanach. "Potential of Trophy Hunting to Create Incentives for Wildlife Conservation in Africa Where
Hunting centuries ago was a cruel way of survival for humans but now it's no more than a violent form of recreation. Hunters should only hunt if they need it for sustenance which most
Trophy hunting is the unnecessary slaughter of animals universally enjoyed by sportsmen around the world. The roots of trophy hunting can be traced back as early as the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad when Buffalo Bill unjustly killed 4000 buffalo in the span of 18 months. Inversely, meat hunting is the killing of animals in order to use the meat to feed a family. During the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, the Native Americans used this tactic in order for their communities to strive. Trophy hunting should be outlawed because it is a waste of valuable resources, it can cause extinction of certain species, and it can cause the gene pool of the animal to change drastically.
We, as humans, mistreat the animal population. On a smaller scale, the human population wastes domestic and wild, animals for medical testing, for their fur, and for entertainment such as dog fighting. These things may not seem to be globally threatening, yet the constant waste of certain species of animals and the destruction of an animal's natural habitat will lead to the endangerment and eventually the extinction of the species. Furthermore, many people are unaware that the world is currently in the midst of the largest mass extinction in history.
“The decrease in numbers and even the disappearance of many large predators due to habit loss and inbreeding has made hunting a necessity for controlling the population size of certain prolific species, such as deer and geese” (Source 2). The number of species generally deemed as prey has skyrocketed with the disappearance of many large predators. Hunting is now considered a necessity only for these specific species that are over populating an area. Without the removal of these plenteous species, inbreeding and mutations will occur creating problems with the species in the future. “An abiding theme in hunting literature is the healing, calming, insight-generating effects of hunter sojourns in natural settings. The hunter ideal is not violent abandon but calm reflection of the holistic circumstances of the irreversible decision to harvest the life of a game animal” (Source 3). Hunters argue that hunting is not solely murdering with no remorse; it is a pensive act. The hunting literature explains that hunters feel contrition from making a kill and claiming the life of an animal contradicting the stereotypical opinion that every hunter is a stone cold killer. Average hunters who hunt for deer and geese for example only help in maintaining overpopulated species in certain areas. Even though maintaining
On July 1, 2015 Cecil the lion was shot and killed by Walter Palmer, an experienced big game trophy hunter from Bloomington, Minnesota. Cecil, a 13 year old male lion who resided within the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, was a local favorite and popular tourist attraction. Two local inhabitants guided and assisted Palmer in luring Cecil outside of the reserve’s boundaries and remained with Palmer as he hunted Cecil. As news of Cecil’s death spread, the enraged public began protesting and violently threatening Palmer. The illegal poaching of Cecil created a global outcry against trophy hunting and opened up a platform for debate over the issue of hunting in both illegal and legal settings. Many African countries utilize trophy hunting as
In July of 2015, national treasure of Zimbabwe, Cecil the Lion was maliciously killed by dentist Walter Palmer. The hunt caused an uproar from many animal activists. The media covered the hunt and the aftermath for many weeks. This heartless act has many questioning why big game hunting is legal. Multiple African countries allow big game hunting, but it is harming the ecosystem. Many innocent, endangered animals are killed. Big game hunting should be banned because it lowers populations, causes further problems, and animal populations are already dropping.
Most sources spoke about the reason for trophy hunting is mostly towards conservation. In the article, Sustainable use and incentive-driven conservation: realigning human and conservation interests, by Nigel Leader-Williams and Jon M. Hutton, stated, “As a result, successful conservation is forced to rely heavily on the incentives generated by use and, for a whole raft of reasons often including a lack of accessibility, infrastructure and charismatic species, by extractive use in particular (Leader-Williams, 2000).” But what you don’t notice is that killing endangered species to “conserve” is not the only way to conserve. According to the article, Hunting – the murderous business, “Wildlife management, population control and wildlife conservation are euphemisms for killing – hunting, trapping and fishing for fun. A percentage of the wild animal population is specifically mandated to be killed. Hunters want us to believe that killing animals equals population control equals conservation, when in fact hunting causes overpopulation of deer, the hunters’ preferred victim species, destroys animal families, and leads to ecological disruption as well as skewed population dynamics.” This
Gettleman, Jeffrey. "Elephants Dying in Epic Frenzy as Ivory Fuels Wars and Profits." The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Sept. 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. .
...leaving a little portion of land to the animals is not that bad. The reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone has been very beneficial to the ecosystem. We tried to eliminate this species but in the end, we need to ask ourselves the question, do we really need to eliminate another species based on our own biases and fears? We need to look past personal gain, and leave nature to take its course.
For centuries humans have survived thanks to the ability we have to adapt. One of this amazing activities that helped us is hunting. Unfortunately as we have changed throughout time, hunting has been degenerated into what’s called Trophy hunting. Have you ever heard this phrase before? Well if you haven’t, trophy hunting is when people kill any kind of animal, simply for keeping their bodies as a souvenir for the brutal and ferocious action they’ve just committed.
Poaching is only one of the leading causes for animals being on the endangered species, so with all these poachers we need to protect the animals more closely. Animals that are close to extinction need to be placed into a zoo or sanctuary so they can flourish. People need to do this for the animals, they may not like it but it helps get their numbers up.
Wildlife preservation may be an important contribution to our animal’s lives, but what if these animal’s lives would be getting in the way of our economy gaining money. Why do we have to risk the lives of these innocent animals? I chose this topic on wildlife preservation because I feel that we humans who have voices need to speak up and do so. I’ve watched animal television documentaries of helpless animals having nowhere to go because of everything we decide to cut down. Yes, it may be true that we need to use our natural resources to survive but why not get more involved with recycling and other substitutes? These wildlife preservation need to stay safe so these animals can help our environment naturally.