Argumentative Essay: Why Is Trophy Hunting Not Conservation?

Hunting is a common activity all around the world, and if performed properly, can have many benefits to us and the rest of the planet. The art of hunting has been around since the beginning of time. Living off of the land used to be a necessity across the world, until the mass production of food came along. In America, people do not usually need to hunt to survive. However, the population of animal species needs to be controlled. Too many of one type of animal can cause a drastic change to any ecosystem. Food supplies decline quickly, leaving many animals without food. Hunting can help keep the population of a group of animals at a good number, making the lives of the other

Trophy hunting is the selective hunting of wild game for human recreation. Every year, thousands of wild animals are killed to be obtained as a prize and to be showcased. Instead of being treated as living beings in nature, they are treated as materialistic objects by humans. Endangered species are the ones who are greatly being affected by those who are trying to obtain them. Trophy hunting is most well known for its practices in African countries and ties to North America. Since the 1800s, trophy hunting has brought about social, political, and economic issues that extend beyond the American borders.

In America, deer are an animal hunted widely throughout our country. Each winter citizens have mixed emotions about the sport. Some say its barbaric and cruel, while others argue that it’s beneficial and useful. Although people may say hunting is cruel and barbaric, have they ever thought about the upsides to be gained from hunting? While this is a topic that can be argued viciously back and forth, I believe hunters win the argument. Deer hunting keeps the population down, protects farmers’ crops, boosts economic sales, betters a person’s mental health, and teaches lifelong lessons on respect. These are just a few of the amazing benefits that can be gained from hunting.

The criteria used for considering species as endangered on the IUCN Red List are “an observed, estimated, inferred or suspected population

This is because, one, simply put, in our modern day Society trophy hunting or hunting in general is not needed, to include endangered animals Within the game hunting will also affect their overall environment, and trophy hunting is overall an inhumane

Is trophy hunting hurtful to conservation? In my opinion, it is extremely hurtful to conservation, but the argument that almost every trophy hunter claims, is that it is not. It is true that this form of hunting brings in an immense amount of money to the countries where it is the most popular, but if someone is trying to save a species, why kill those animals to hang them up on a wall? The money that is brought in through trophy hunting cannot save the animals if they are being shot at as a sport for us humans. Truthfully, hunters do not have much of an argument for what they are doing to already endangered species, so they attempt to cover it up with the excuse of helping conservation.

Trophy hunting has always been an issue in our society and still is to this day. Trophy hunting is the hunting of an animal that is usually kept and displayed by the hunter. We cannot blame Africa for the extinction of many of it’s animals, we have to blame the trophy hunters who have massacred these beautiful animals. The reason why trophy hunting should be banned is because of the risk many animals face of going extinct and because of the lack of respect it has towards animals. It is also driving us into our sixth mass extinction.

In recent news, it was made known that the ban on importing lion and elephant trophies into the United States was lifted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. After hundreds of thousands of responses were directed at the Trump administration to stop the lift of the ban, President Trump put a hold on it in order for him to “review conservation facts.” This issue is completely controversial and while half of society believes that trophy hunting is beneficial to the conservation of certain species, the other half believes that this argument is invalid since it is completely contradictory. Although there are some benefits to trophy hunting, it is incredibly immoral and detrimental to the environment and there are better ways to implement those benefits rather than killing animals.

Specifically, trophy hunting could harm the environment and the entire species of the animal killed. Firstly, grizzly bears help the environment and other animals in the rainforest. For example, David Suzuki talks about how grizzlies bring salmon, along with nutrients from the ocean in the salmon, into the rainforest. This leaves the carcass of the salmon for other animals and the nutrients in the salmon for the fertilization of the rainforest (Suzuki). Therefore, trophy hunting grizzlies harms more than just the one bear the hunter killed. Secondly, illegal markets caused a rise in hunting, leading to more animals being killed to be sold. For instance, Richard Emslie and Michael Knight report that “pseudo-hunters” would get permits to hunt rhinos and sell their horns. “This caused a temporary peak in hunting applications” (Emslie). Therefore, the hunting of animals caused illegal markets to pop up, in which caused more people to hunt. Thirdly, some animals are already facing threats without hunters. To illustrate, Suzuki, talking about grizzly bears, says “they already face threats from habitat loss, damage and fragmentation; cascading effects of salmon collapse and climate change; and death from poaching.” Hence, hunting only furthers problems animals have. For all these reasons, trophy hunting is harming the environment and other animals, plus the ones they are

Trophy Hunting is the act of killing animals to use its parts for decoration like its skin, skull, or horns. It has been around for hundreds of years, used by the French since the 1800’s. Trophy Hunting is a very controversial concept, although some think it just drives species down to extinction or endangerment, others think it helps conservation since the money from the hunts will go towards conservation efforts. Despite the idea that money from the hunts goes towards larger conservation efforts, it usually doesn’t help the population of endangered species at all; it just drives the population down more so Trophy Hunting should be banned.

Trophy hunting, by definition, is the selective hunting of wild game. People from all around the world have been participating in this activity for many years with many animals, some of which are endangered. One benefit of this is that trophy hunting brings lots of money to the economies of poor countries all around the world, and the activity does many more positive things for the world and the species being hunted. Trophy hunting of threatened and endangered animals should be legal. Trophy hunting raises money for endangered species.

Trophy hunting is the legal hunt for wildlife, while poaching is killing animals illegally. Some people believe that the locals are thriving off of the money created from trophy hunting.

IF YOU REALLY want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is why I love to hunt so much. To me, hunting season is probably the best time of the year. The weather is wonderful, not too hot and not too cold. It's basically a tradition to go to hunting camp every year. It's probably what I look forward to the most in the fall. When I go I am normally there with my dad, my uncle, a family friend named Kevin, and his dad named Archy. I go to hunting camp on the opening weekend of hunting season. The first day my dad and I set up everything at our blinds, and then head back to the camp. We spend the rest of the night hanging around with all the guys. It's super fun, we play games like 500 rummy and cribbage while watching whatever football games are

“Hunting as a family is by no means a new tradition. In fact, it used to be one of several traditional American family values(Staff).”

Trophy hunting has no place in modern society. It does not improve the quality of life for humans or animals so why is it a continued practice? It has had a different and destructive purpose than regular game hunting and further kills off already endangered animals. Big game hunting should be made illegal. Those who participate in big game hunting are already of high monetary status and should be prosecuted in some other way besides fines because they’ll just continue. We have to show love for our earth and its inhabitants because this earth is the only one we