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Hunting Lions: Sport or Murder? Essay

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When a Minnesota dentist killed a prized African lion named "Cecil" he received an onslaught of criticism and reignited the debate concerning hunting. Man's quest to dominate all of nature has been a passion dating to the primitive days of mankind. During this primitive era, man's need to hunt was strictly for survival and to preserve their existence and dominance over the wild. In this modern era, man still finds the need to unleash this internal drive for power. The passion to hunt, however, is no longer a necessity for survival; it is a game or sport for which the trophy is one of nature's most intriguing animals, the mountain lion.

Yellowstone national park is one of the few places that have been "blessed with carnivore diversity." …show more content…

The National Rifle Association seeks to lift this moratorium and allow the hunt of the cats. Their effort would carry into the year 1996 where they sought for the passing of proposition 197 which would legalize the trophy hunting of the cougars. However their efforts as well as the proposition failed to change the fate of the lions (5).

Recent media has displayed the mountain lion as being a fierce creature with a history of unprovoked attacks. However what is failed to be conveyed to the public is the fact that the human population is doubling every 25 years. With the climbing cougar and human populations, an increased competition of food has sent hungry mountain lions to suburban backyards in an effort to seek nourishment (4). By doing so the number of lion attacks on humans has elevated. The fact that these lions are losing their habitats to human developers, raises the question of whether lions pose a threat to humans or not.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has fought for the rights to lawfully hunt the mountain lion. Their efforts would be for the "good of society," since the poaching of these cats would decrease their population and directly decrease the numbers of human attacks. California's current law permits the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to remove any lion that poses a risk to people, property or pets. In 1994, 122 mountain lions were killed under the depredation permits issued by the DFG

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