Ardent
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
DISCLAIMER: FIRST OFF, I DON'T WANT TO BE A PAIN IN THE BUTT FOR THE MODS, I'M LOOKING FOR RATIONAL DISCUSSION. IF YOU GET THE URGE TO BECOME ANGRY, NAME CALL OR INSULT, PLEASE DO NOT POST IN THIS THREAD.
So here's my concern, and where I stand; I'm opposed to a good deal of African safari hunting, and rare game hunting, ala Boddington. Personally, I don't say much on the issue, as I respect other's pursuits as long as they don't interfere with mine. For the most part, this is the case with exotic game hunting. Now where I reach a point that I must say something, is when I'm witnessing things I can't just shut up over. Some of you know about my travels and what I do, and in the course of my work and travel I've come across some things sold as "hunting" I find downright despicable, like Jaguar hunting in Brazil and Peru. While technically prohibited or extremely limited, it's going on at an ever-present rate, and I've personally seen the results when I was last in the Amazon. Wealthy clients still pay to hunt Jaguars, and what sickens me is the synergistic cycle of where as the species becomes closer and closer towards wild extinction, be it in an area or in total, the prices demanded and paid climb, as does interest in hunting the animal. At one time Jaguars were plentiful, and were hunted sustainably. Now, they're extinct in most of their former range, and are hunted ruthlessly as the prices paid to hunt them and for their hides are exponentially increased with the Jaguar's rarity; and this hunting is more efficient than ever, with modern arms and techniques.
Now the Jaguar is just one example, and I bring it up as it's the only one I've witnessed what is happening first hand. The same is occurring with Tigers, Leopards, and to a lesser but still concerning extent Lions. These are just the predators, some species are doing equally as poorly at the hands of hunters and poachers, like Rhinos. This leaves out all the depleted grazer populations of Africa and India, and the now likely extinct Sumatran Rhino, among thousands of others. Why do we have the urge to kill the most incredible creatures? Would I personally enjoy the hunt? YES, of course, it's in our nature as humans, though we must make a rational and responsible decision of when to leave certain animals alone. It honestly sickens me, and this is why I'm writing this post.
Now here's where my reasoning becomes harder to follow for some; I hunt, and love it, yet my hunting is where I gain my take on the issue. My first and foremost concern as a hunter is conservation, I care about the environment, and I care about the game I take and how to do so responsibly. Hunters are more involved with nature than the average citizen one thousand fold, and that to me, at least, creates a greater awareness. It is this awareness that fosters the feelings of anger and disbelief when I see dentists paying tens of thousands of dollars to hunt game nearing extinction with an ignorant and false sense of the "hunt" as they blindly follow trackers and dogs with rifles with the price tags practically still on. They shoot poorly, finally taking the game, and celebrate with photos and cheers then walk off and leave the responsibility of doing the honest work on their kill to others and wait for the prepared hide or cape in the mail back home. Something's wrong here.
Even more interestingly, is how these "hunters" complain and are angered when locals take the same game. In many areas exotic hunting occurs, it is extremely difficult, if not legally impossible, for a local to take the same game as the dentists and lawyers do, because the latter have the money. So foreigners who visit and make trivial decorative use of the animals are righteous in hunting them, yet the locals are inadequate to hunt the game they have been since times past. Poaching ensues, literal turf wars, where each side wishes to get the most out of the area before the other takes it all, the losers being the animals in the harshest way.
Lastly, what makes Africa, India, and the rare animals of the Americas special? They are living remnants, ancestral species that date to the Pleistocene. Africa is often referred to as the living Pleistocene, these are the elephants, closely related to the extinct mammoths, the big cats, relatives of the saber tooth and so many other extinct predators, and the rhinos and other large herbivores, the last of a line of animals that represented to largest and most majestic period of mammals. They are living marvels straight out of times past, and we hunt them to extinction because we enjoy it. To reference Jaguars again, did you realize, until historically extremely recently, they roamed all the way far up into the United States? Now they are limited to the tropics alone, and in small, isolated and persecuted populations. In North America, the Buffalo's all but gone, due to the same ignorance, the Tasmanian Tiger, David's deer (now reintroduced from captive stock, once extinct in the wild yet hunted until the last one was down), the Quagga, the infamous Dodo, the Turanian Tiger (a lion maned tiger, the last of which was shot in 1957), the English Wolf, the Irish deer, and so many others examples of which are likely even more poignant than mine above. This saga will continue, my words don't change mindsets, and we have examples here at home, I feel the Cougar’s on the path. People still feel the world is there for their exploitation, to my incredulous incomprehension.
The other side of the argument? Funds poured in by the hunters are used for conservation, and it is in the hunter's interests to maintain the populations of the animals they hunt. Hunting farms, breeding animals for the hunt, have sprang up, catering to wealthy clients. This is no different than domesticated animal farming, really, and I have to agree. Sad however, when we as hunters stoop to hunting inside enclosures, in my opinion, not so much as in it demeans the hunter’s character, as it is sad that in order to experience the thrill of a hunt, hunters will go down to hunting raised animals inside fences. So while morally I have no objection, though the breeding stock for these farms does have to come from the wild initially, even if the breeding stock is derived further from previously domesticated stock, I simply find it not hunting.
Are we not able to give up on certain thoughts, dreams, and perspectives of the past? The African hunters of the 19th and early 20th centuries are not to be glorified, they were blatant over exploiters and ignorant of rational moderation. Would it have been fun? Most certainly, and at the same time it most certainly is NOT right. Can we not take a moral higher ground, as hunters, and not be ridiculed by other hunters for it as being leftist tree huggers? It simply amazes me, that while we live in what likely is the best hunting land left on earth, we have people leaving Canada to hunt animals in Africa. Am I alone, am I wrong, in my opinions? I welcome conversation on the subject, as this would not be the first time I’ve had my position modified through intelligent discussion. Please though, lets have it as rational discussion, and keep it polite; I have no intention to insult anyone, and simply want to discuss what I’m sure nobody would declare a non-issue.
So here's my concern, and where I stand; I'm opposed to a good deal of African safari hunting, and rare game hunting, ala Boddington. Personally, I don't say much on the issue, as I respect other's pursuits as long as they don't interfere with mine. For the most part, this is the case with exotic game hunting. Now where I reach a point that I must say something, is when I'm witnessing things I can't just shut up over. Some of you know about my travels and what I do, and in the course of my work and travel I've come across some things sold as "hunting" I find downright despicable, like Jaguar hunting in Brazil and Peru. While technically prohibited or extremely limited, it's going on at an ever-present rate, and I've personally seen the results when I was last in the Amazon. Wealthy clients still pay to hunt Jaguars, and what sickens me is the synergistic cycle of where as the species becomes closer and closer towards wild extinction, be it in an area or in total, the prices demanded and paid climb, as does interest in hunting the animal. At one time Jaguars were plentiful, and were hunted sustainably. Now, they're extinct in most of their former range, and are hunted ruthlessly as the prices paid to hunt them and for their hides are exponentially increased with the Jaguar's rarity; and this hunting is more efficient than ever, with modern arms and techniques.
Now the Jaguar is just one example, and I bring it up as it's the only one I've witnessed what is happening first hand. The same is occurring with Tigers, Leopards, and to a lesser but still concerning extent Lions. These are just the predators, some species are doing equally as poorly at the hands of hunters and poachers, like Rhinos. This leaves out all the depleted grazer populations of Africa and India, and the now likely extinct Sumatran Rhino, among thousands of others. Why do we have the urge to kill the most incredible creatures? Would I personally enjoy the hunt? YES, of course, it's in our nature as humans, though we must make a rational and responsible decision of when to leave certain animals alone. It honestly sickens me, and this is why I'm writing this post.
Now here's where my reasoning becomes harder to follow for some; I hunt, and love it, yet my hunting is where I gain my take on the issue. My first and foremost concern as a hunter is conservation, I care about the environment, and I care about the game I take and how to do so responsibly. Hunters are more involved with nature than the average citizen one thousand fold, and that to me, at least, creates a greater awareness. It is this awareness that fosters the feelings of anger and disbelief when I see dentists paying tens of thousands of dollars to hunt game nearing extinction with an ignorant and false sense of the "hunt" as they blindly follow trackers and dogs with rifles with the price tags practically still on. They shoot poorly, finally taking the game, and celebrate with photos and cheers then walk off and leave the responsibility of doing the honest work on their kill to others and wait for the prepared hide or cape in the mail back home. Something's wrong here.
Even more interestingly, is how these "hunters" complain and are angered when locals take the same game. In many areas exotic hunting occurs, it is extremely difficult, if not legally impossible, for a local to take the same game as the dentists and lawyers do, because the latter have the money. So foreigners who visit and make trivial decorative use of the animals are righteous in hunting them, yet the locals are inadequate to hunt the game they have been since times past. Poaching ensues, literal turf wars, where each side wishes to get the most out of the area before the other takes it all, the losers being the animals in the harshest way.
Lastly, what makes Africa, India, and the rare animals of the Americas special? They are living remnants, ancestral species that date to the Pleistocene. Africa is often referred to as the living Pleistocene, these are the elephants, closely related to the extinct mammoths, the big cats, relatives of the saber tooth and so many other extinct predators, and the rhinos and other large herbivores, the last of a line of animals that represented to largest and most majestic period of mammals. They are living marvels straight out of times past, and we hunt them to extinction because we enjoy it. To reference Jaguars again, did you realize, until historically extremely recently, they roamed all the way far up into the United States? Now they are limited to the tropics alone, and in small, isolated and persecuted populations. In North America, the Buffalo's all but gone, due to the same ignorance, the Tasmanian Tiger, David's deer (now reintroduced from captive stock, once extinct in the wild yet hunted until the last one was down), the Quagga, the infamous Dodo, the Turanian Tiger (a lion maned tiger, the last of which was shot in 1957), the English Wolf, the Irish deer, and so many others examples of which are likely even more poignant than mine above. This saga will continue, my words don't change mindsets, and we have examples here at home, I feel the Cougar’s on the path. People still feel the world is there for their exploitation, to my incredulous incomprehension.
The other side of the argument? Funds poured in by the hunters are used for conservation, and it is in the hunter's interests to maintain the populations of the animals they hunt. Hunting farms, breeding animals for the hunt, have sprang up, catering to wealthy clients. This is no different than domesticated animal farming, really, and I have to agree. Sad however, when we as hunters stoop to hunting inside enclosures, in my opinion, not so much as in it demeans the hunter’s character, as it is sad that in order to experience the thrill of a hunt, hunters will go down to hunting raised animals inside fences. So while morally I have no objection, though the breeding stock for these farms does have to come from the wild initially, even if the breeding stock is derived further from previously domesticated stock, I simply find it not hunting.
Are we not able to give up on certain thoughts, dreams, and perspectives of the past? The African hunters of the 19th and early 20th centuries are not to be glorified, they were blatant over exploiters and ignorant of rational moderation. Would it have been fun? Most certainly, and at the same time it most certainly is NOT right. Can we not take a moral higher ground, as hunters, and not be ridiculed by other hunters for it as being leftist tree huggers? It simply amazes me, that while we live in what likely is the best hunting land left on earth, we have people leaving Canada to hunt animals in Africa. Am I alone, am I wrong, in my opinions? I welcome conversation on the subject, as this would not be the first time I’ve had my position modified through intelligent discussion. Please though, lets have it as rational discussion, and keep it polite; I have no intention to insult anyone, and simply want to discuss what I’m sure nobody would declare a non-issue.
