The Pros And Cons Of Trophy Hunting

Each of these viewpoints have positives and negatives, some rely on human interests while others are more ethically centered. When dealing with trophy hunting they all have some kind of part to play, but ultimately the sport still does not seem to be completely ethical. Despite these problems, trophy hunting has a lot of potential and could still be beneficial to the environment. Stronger laws and regulations could be established to ensure trophy hunting is really making a positive difference. Restricting trophy hunting only to certain species is another option. If neither of these two solutions works, there is always the option of stopping trophy hunting all together. The most successful hunting areas are those in first world countries. …show more content…
The basic justification behind trophy hunting is that it raises funds for conservation. However, in relationships between people and nature we just are not very good at predicting the outcomes of our actions . Trophy hunting rare and endangered species does not guarantee the safety of that species. While it is only a couple animals, it still results in decreasing the population and gene pool of that species. If trophy hunting only occurred on invasive or overpopulated animals, there would be no need to worry about the overall affects on the population as much. Anthropocentrists would still make money, biocentrists can justify this type of trophy hunting because it goes towards protecting the environment from invasive species, and ecocentrists would accept it because it keeps overpopulated and invasive species from further degrading the environment. The issues with this method are similar to the issues with the previous method. The highest paying animals hunted are those with a threatened or endangered status. Taking these animals off the market would produce less income for conservation and therefore less money to be used to help restore the endangered and threatened species. Local villages that advertised trophy hunting would have less interest in restoring the environment and stopping poaching without the money they make off of trophy hunting. Ethically, this is probably one of the …show more content…
Westerners are one the biggest clients for trophy hunting so I examined the issue from three different ethical viewpoints of western tradition. Each ethical idea has some way it can look at trophy hunting from an ethically acceptable position. From the solutions listed, the one most ethically acceptable for all three groups would be to trophy hunt only invasive or overpopulated species. Income for conservation can still be made, while the issues with killing animals can be justified as a form of protection for the environment. This solution could become even more acceptable if meat and unused parts of the animals killed were donated to those who need it. Trophy hunting has its flaws, but it also has the potential to be a beneficial part of conservation and environmental