What is your stance on hunting big cats in the name of conservation? Like the most recent and unnecessary death of Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe. Supporters of the man who killed Cecil, say hunting is necessary for the sake of conservation, despite hunting endangered species.
I’m not terribly clued up on the ins and outs of big game hunting and I don’t really have the time to research it all properly; I’ve only actually read one article on the Cecil case. Maybe the admins at big-cat-network would be able to give a more informed opinion on big cat hunting specifically?
However, in terms of general conservation you have to understand that it is a very complex discipline to navigate. It does infuriate me when people fail to see that there cannot be a black and white solution. Morally, of course most humans would consider taking the life of another animals as cruel, and I find it perplexing how someone can be motivated to hunt an animal for a trophy. However, when considering the bigger picture, hunting can be beneficial to conservation if it is informed by science and strictly regulated:Â
To maintain habitat and stop trophic cascades: Admittedly, this is probably more applicable to invasive species or where something is out of whack in the trophic levels. For example, here in the UK we no longer have large predators, such as lynx and bears. As such, with nothing to regulate the deer population, it has grown exponentially. The ~1.5 million deer roaming the UK consume food faster than woodland has time to regenerate. Food is depleted quickly, which negatively affects the deer population, and anything else that relies on primary producers (which, considering they form the foundation of every ecosystem, is more or less everything). As a result, because re-introducing predators is not an immediate solution, humans have to become the predators in order to regulate the ecosystem. The culled individuals are then sold as food (which adds in another element, that butchers etc don’t want the 40-50% cull that is generally recommended by science as it will lower the cost of venison and reduce their profits substantially- like it or not, people make or break conservation strategy so you have to keep them happy). Therefore, hunting/culling in this instance is not just a useful tool but an essential one.Â
To bring in funds for conservation: Conservation is very expensive, much more than people realise. The countries where conservation is most needed (i.e. where whole ecosystems are being lost fastest) tend to be nations with little GDP where income is generally spent on essential ameneties like healthcare and education. Conversely, the countries where conservation is least needed tend to be nations with a large GDP. However public donations do not amount to much, and governments fail to prioritise conservation as it’s not a problem they a) see on their doorstep and so cannot comprehend it or, b) they would rather invest profit into areas where the public are going to see an immediate benefit. In a nutshell, conservation is an extremely poorly funded area comparable to the costs of actually implementing conservation strategy. As such, though it seems counter intuitive, sometimes we have to go down controversial routes like hunting in order to fund conservation.
That said, I imaginethe only way this would apply to the hunting of endangered species is in areas where local populations are too high, but the relocation of individuals is not feasible (remember that just because an animal exists in low numbers worldwide, doesn’t preclude the possibility that they may exist in detrimentally high numbers at a local level). However, due to cat ecology and life history dictating that you generally wouldn’t have detrimentally high numbers in one locality, I am unsure whether either of those given reasons are justification for the hunting of big cats.Â
I can see it from both sides of the argument, but as a scientist I am only willing to support hunting if reliable research indicates it is beneficial to whole populations or ecosystems. Sure, there will always be a part of me that is upset by it, however if shown to be a useful tool then the death of a few individuals is overshadowed by the many more that benefit.Â
I haven’t directly answered your question r.e. the hunting of big cats, but with a bit of luck I have helped you understand how hunting can sometimes be beneficial to conservation. Hopefully others will chip in - with sensible and informed responses only please. If you have any more questions then don’t hesitate to ask!
