Bracamonte 1

Mikaela Bracamonte

Ms. Figueroa

Senior English

11 April 2019

Not Conservation

Trophy hunting has been around all the way back to the 19th century. It has been a world

issue since it had begun for a variety of reasons. Trophy hunting is known to be a wildlife sport

of killing many exotic animals just for the thrill. Many of the trophy hunters only poach to

display their success and achievements in an egotistical manner. However, it is a major problem

to our ecosystem due to the many resources one animal can bring. The wildlife sport began

around the late 1800’s, it still exist to this century, and occurs all over the world. Trophy hunting

had officially became an issue in the 21st century due to many species had reportedly been

deteriorate in an alarming rate. There are a multitude of people who are opposed to the act of

trophy hunting that causes a decline in animal species. Although, not only the decline in the

animal’s resources is the problem people are facing with trophy hunting. Other problems such as

many of those exotic animals had already reached abolishment. It is anticipated that in a couple

of years, many more animals we know and love will be extinct. The issue will continue to grow

due to many of the hunters only seek to kill animals for the price tags they seen on their heads.

Rather than noticing all the resources and help animals bring to our environment, hunters rather

earn a profit for taking a life. Many believe that the more hunts that are being made, the more our

environment will become impaired. A call to action should be the ban of all types of trophy

hunting. If that sport were to be banned many of our animal’s species will increase and all of

nature’s resources will be restored. The government should make trophy hunting illegal because
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the decline in a species is effecting the balance in nature, leading to many animals reaching

extinction, and hunters only kill for their own satisfaction and profits in each kill.

Trophy hunting had more problems than solutions. It is one of the leading causes to many

declines in an animal species and the effects the balance of nature. Nature balance is the scale of

what animals hunts who, known as predator vs prey. The balances are helpful to our environment

due to animals hunting their preys and manage to keep that species to a minimal. This balance

comes naturally to our ecosystem. In the article “How does hunting affect Environments”, author

Kimberly Turtenwild states, “nature has a delicate balance and human hunting can have an

impact on that natural balance” (Turtenwild 2). Nature is an intricate area that can be easily

damaged from the people around it and many people who contribute to hunting can cause a great

unfortunate effect on our ecosystem. Animals maintain a scale in nature which is slowly but

surely being injured by all trophy hunts in their societies today. The hunters who willingly kill

for sport not only mess up the process of natural balance, but chose to believe they are helping

conservation in nature. Little do many hunter know that nature works in the simplest way

without the help of any mankind. In the article it also states , “if a predator like wolves or

mountain lions are hunted to lower numbers their prey often increases number”(Turtenwild 3).

Animals are able to maintain their own natural balance of nature with animals hunting others to

easily manage the species itself by having different breeds increase in an ingrained way. Hunter

who kill more exotic animals increases the species of another kind ruining the balance that is

shared. In the article, “Does Hunting Help or Hurt the Environment” it states, “despite hunters’

claims that hunting keeps wildlife populations in balance, hunters’ license fees are used to

“manipulate a few game [target] species into overpopulation at the expense of a much larger

number of non-game species, resulting in the loss of biological diversity, genetic integrity and
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ecological balance” (Davis 2). Hunters may cheat the system in earning a license to kill exotic

animals stating how they help keep animals at a moderate level. In spite of how many hunters

may be truly doing that, other hunters do it for a sense of ease causing real damage to our

ecosystem. Many kills that are being taken place do cause an ecological imbalance towards

everything in our nature which causes great harm to all people in our climate. In conclusion, the

balance of nature is becoming more ruined every year. Many species are decreasing or even

going extinct, those who chose to commit in the act of participating in hunting are a major cause

in the damage in our environment.

Not only is trophy hunting eligible to make an entire species decrease, but it is eligible to

make an entire species disappear. Many animals have reportedly gone or became extinct which

results in many animals not being restored for another century even some species have been

known to never return. This is a major problem on not only animals but our society as well. In

the article, “Undesirable evolution consequences of trophy hunting” David Coleman states “sport

harvesting is one of the most pervasive and potentially intrusive human activities that affect

game mammal populations globally” (Coleman 4). Sport harvesting is one of the most damaging

human activity, it contains the power to corrupt a population so easily and can manage to do that

all over the world. Sport harvesting can lead to bigger issues in our ecosystem. Many animals are

killed for the price tags in their heads with the more deaths that occur in trade for money. The

more a species may decrease. In the article, “5 reasons trophy hunting is not conservation”

author Alexis Croswell states “the hunting of animals for trophies especially larger games

animals, can lead a slippery slope” (Croswell 3). The more of a thrill trophy hunting becomes

and the higher price the animals may be the more people will engage in this activity and it may

lead to a massive negative outcome in our world. “When a population is forced to adapt in
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response to a changing environment, then the removal of the highest quality individuals had

catastrophic results. Populations were unable to adapt and were far more likely to go extinct”

(Gabbatis 3). Alongside the amount of rescue a decreasing species may go through, the act in

trying to recover from the constant decline bring much more impact and weight against their

species. An individual who does engage in such act of trophy hunting is the leading cause of

obsolescence towards a species, even the constant distress the animals go through. Therefore,

sport hunting is the leading cause of many animals going extinct. The excessive amount of

hunter killing more and more animals may led to extinction.

Trophy hunting is not only used for the thrill or games, but to get a profit out of it.

However many uncalled for kills had been made just to be able to sell and profit out of each kill.

Many hunters try to profit from their kills even though some may be commuting the crime of

poaching. They still only see a price tag rather than a life. In the article it also states “it is

possible that miss-information can lead to incorrect reporting of numbers to encourage hunting

of financial benefits” (Croswell 3). Numerous of huntsman try to encourage more people to

engage in the sport by fabricating the truth of the amount one hunter gets, to get more people

involved and more people pay to participate in their franchise. In the article “Trophy Hunter

Pays $100,000 To Kill Rare Goat in Pakistan for Fun”, author Walter Yeates states “Trophy

hunting is also counter-evolutionary, as it’s based on selectively taking the large, robust, and

healthy males from a population for a hunter’s trophy room” (Yeates 2). A great deal of people

engage in this activity for their own fulfillment t without acknowledging the harm they are

causing to everyone around them. To conclude, sport hunting for money and social ranking is an

issue in the act of hunting, many animals today go extinct just for the satisfaction of individuals

own achievement.
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Even though sport hunting is a horrible game taken place in nature, there are some good

causes that are taken place while hunters go out and hunt. Some people willingly hunt to only

earn money however there are people who hunt to maintain a close bond to their family and

society. In the article “a statewide examination of hunting and trophy nonhuman animals:

Perspectives of Montana hunters”, the author Stephen L. Eliason states, “Motivation for hunting

deer are rooted in the areas of personal achievement, affiliation, with friends family’s” (Eliason

6). Many hunts can help keep communities close and family’s bond close as well just by

comparing ones success. However not only hunting is beneficial to keep family’s close together.

At times it can really help many animals from becoming over populated. In the article it also

states, “from an economic stand point however trophy hunting because it may also be beneficial

tool for conservation efforts” (Croswell 5). Trophy hunting can be a helpful tool in nature since it

is eligible to keep animal populations from over populating. All things considered, theology

hunting can be helpful in an economic and personal appeal.

Not only does trophy hunting help keep animal populations from increasing fast, It also

helps many people become maintain more land to live on. Many over populated animal take over

a lot of land and make it hard to try and make a community grow and revolve. In the article,

“Trophy hunting can help African hunting can help African conservation” author John Pickerel

states, “to justify the continued existence of protected areas in the context of increasing demand

for land, wildlife has to pay for itself and contribute to the, economy, and hunting provides an

important means of achieving this” (Pickerell 4). The amount kills that are being made can

actually help communities grow due to trophy hunters helping all animals’ populations be

minimal. Sport hunting helps communities overall keep wildlife to a minimal and help many

societies grow. In the article is also states, “trophy hunting is of key importance to conservation
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in Africa by creating [financial incentives to promote a retain wildlife as a land use over vast

areas” (Pickerell 6). Sport hunting helps keep conservation in nature of many species, and helps

a lot of local communities. In conclusion trophy hunting is beneficial for us humans due to our

population always expanding and always in the need of more land.

Certainly trophy hunting is not conservation but many may persuade themselves into

thinking it helps our ecosystem, however it does little cause and a lot of damage. Many of those

animals who are being hunted for thrill are near extinction. Hunters who kill them are causing

damage due to reliable resources they bring to our ecosystem. Killing animals for sport should

not be for a man’s satisfaction or demonstration of success and achievement. A multitude of

people participates in trophy hunting, which most believe they are in act of helping conservation.

However the most people become involved with the sport the more and more all living species

may decrease.Trophy hunting does nothing but hurt the environment we all live on.

Trophy hunting should become a crime due to the imbalance occurring in nature, many

animals reach extinction, and hunting mainly takes place for profit. The decline in an animal

species can ruin nature and cause an over populated species to continue to increase causing the

imbalance. A few animals had already hit borderline extinction or had already gone extinct. As a

species continues to decline more will in an increasing rate. Hunters who kill just to make a

profit or demonstrated achievement are damaging all communities in their own egotistical way.

All trophy hunting needs to come to an end, it does nothing to help the conservation of animals.

It is the leading cause of all wildlife problems. Ending all sport hunting will help the world by

letting all natural sources be restored due to the decreasing amount of animals being killed.
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Works Cited

Croswell, Alexis. “5 Reasons Trophy Hunting Is Not Conservation.” One Green Planet, 2 Jan.

2014, www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/5-reasons-trophy-hunting-is-not-

conservation/

Davis, Billy. “Does Hunting Help or Hurt the Environment?” Scientific American, 2001,

www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-talks-hunting/.

Eliason, Stephen L. “A Statewide Examination of Hunting and Trophy Nonhuman Animals:

Perspectives of Montana Hunters.” Society & Animals, vol. 16, no. 3, Sept. 2008, pp.

256–278. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1163/156853008X323402

Gabbatiss Science Correspondent @josh_gabbatiss, Josh. “Hunting Trophy Animals Could

Cause Species Extinction.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 29

Nov. 2017, www.independent.co.uk/environment/hunting-trophy-animals-species-

extinction-conservation-genes-antlers-horns-tusks-a8080776.html.

Pickrell, John. “Figure 2f from: Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) Taxonomic Revision of

Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae, Boraginales). Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e7720.

Https://Doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7720.” 15 Mar. 2007, doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f.

Turtenwald, Kimberly. “How Does Hunting Affect the Environment?” Sciencing.com,

Sciencing, 6 Dec. 2018, sciencing.com/hunting-affect-environment-11369486.html.

Yeates, Walter. “Trophy Hunter Pays $100,000 To Kill Rare Goat In Pakistan For Fun.”

ValueWalk, ValueWalk, 22 Jan. 2019, www.valuewalk.com/2019/01/trophy-hunting-

kill-rare-goat-pakistan-for-fun/

Davis, Billy. “Does Hunting Help or Hurt the Environment?” Scientific American, 2001,

www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-talks-hunting/