Trade, food or recreation purposes lie behind the oldest of man’s activities: hunting. According to wildlife management, hunting is a way to maintain the animal population in a certain area healthy and matching the carrying capacity of the environment. Most hunting and licensing bodies also include wildlife managers in their ranks so that the conditions, mode and number of the game to be hunted can be regulated fairly and in optimal conditions.
The recreation dimension of hunting is severely criticized by lots of organizations militating for animal rights. If hunting was considered necessary for humans’ survival some thousands and even hundreds of years ago, not the same thing can be said about today’s hunting conditions. Hunting has converted into a cruel and very violent form of recreation; add poaching activities and we get very alarming figures of animal slaughtering every year.
Hunting is organized not only on private properties but also in national parks, state forests, wildlife refuges and other public areas. The main argument brought by animal rights supporters against hunting as a sport is that not all the shot game gets retrieved by the hunters. Around 10% of wounded animals manage to escape and they then endure a painful and really horrible death. In the case of wolves that mate for life and live in communities, hunting breaks the family and puts a lot of stress on the animals.
Other arguments against hunting reside in the alteration of the eating, migration and hibernation patterns of animals. Due to fear and the loud noises that often accompany hunting expeditions, animals can no longer feed properly, which prevents them from storing fat and get ready for winter survival. Normally, hunting would not be necessary given the fact that the ecosystems have a self-balancing program implemented by Mother Nature. It’s not even necessary to kill old or sick individuals because they will become the easiest prey to meat-eating animals.
Sports hunting remains a very delicate and controversial issue, but it is definitely clear for now that nobody is going to eliminate hunting from the landscape as long as there are people willing to hunt. Arguments are given pro and against hunting, and there is no way to end the dispute and please both parties! Enthusiasts of this violent sport actually claim themselves concerned with species conservation and preservation, but if we look back at the history of hunting, it is easy to see how species have become endangered or grown extinct because of man’s greed or thirst for blood.