Question

Big-game hunting is the hunting of large game animals for meat, commercially valuable by-products (such as horns, furs, tusks, bones, body fat/oil, or special organs and contents), trophy/taxidermy, or simply just for recreation. The term is often associated with the hunting of Africa's "Big Five" game (lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, African leopard, and rhinoceros), and with tigers and rhinoceroses on the Indian subcontinent. Many other species of big game are hunted including kudu, antelope, and hartebeest. Whale, moose, elk, caribou, bison, mule deer, and white-tailed deer are the largest game hunted in North America, where most big-game hunting is conducted today. Comment below about whether or not you think big game hunting should be legal and at least one reason for your opinion. 1 sentence minimum.

Answer 1

Big game hunting should be illegal due to its contribution to species decline and extinction, unsustainable harvest rates, and negative ecological impacts. Conservation policies and alternatives like sustainable tourism can provide economic benefits without the detrimental effects on wildlife.

Step-by-step explanation:

Big game hunting should not be legal because it has led to significant declines in populations of large mammals and can drive species to extinction. Studies have shown that in places like Kilum Ijim, Cameroon, and Vietnam, unregulated commercial hunting and the bushmeat trade have caused the loss of large mammals like elephants and leopards, as well as a dramatic reduction in wildlife biomass. In addition, hunting has impacted tropical forest vertebrates greatly, with millions of tons of wild meat harvested yearly, which is unsustainable and leads to defaunation.

The practice of hunting not only reduces biodiversity but also undermines the ecological functions these animals provide, such as seed dispersal. While there may be economic arguments for hunting related to protein sources and income for local communities, alternative conservation strategies such as wildlife sanctuaries and sustainable tourism can provide these benefits without the negative impact on wildlife populations. Policy responses are crucial to preventing overexploitation, including demand-side restrictions and supply-side provisioning of substitutes to decrease the incentives for hunting.