Arguments Against Trophy Hunting

According to a Wall Street Journal article, Africa’s elephant population dropped more than 30% from 2007 to 2014 due to poaching and trophy hunting (Anderson). That means over 100,000 elephants were killed in seven short years. Trophy hunting is when hunters kill animals for money, bragging rights, and their own greed. This can cause drops in population or affect the ways animals survive. Even though it is major and causes so many problems, trophy hunting is looked past as if it is not an issue. Trophy hunting should be illegal because it depletes animal populations, reduces tourism, and is inhumane.
People who oppose this idea believe that hunting helps to raise the population of the species. Former Executive Director and President of the
It makes wildlife an asset to local communities, which secures survival of at-risk species” (Anderson). They say if hunting is done within reason, it shows how valuable the species is and can raise awareness to save them. However, this just makes it more likely for people to want to kill them for their own needs as they now know what it can be used for. For example, according to English Archbishop William Booth, elephant’s ivory can be worth over $200 a kilogram and is in high demand (Booth). Once hunters know this, they will only want to kill the elephants more. Another reason they support trophy hunting is because they think it is inevitable no matter what they do. Teacher and author Terry Hanmer writes, “Humans are not the only enemies animals have and all animals do not always get along” (Hanmer 53). Animals prey on each other more than humans hunt, so the humans believe that their hunting does not matter as much. While this may be true, hunting animals is not a natural process and it can affect their way of life by killing their leaders and ruining their environment. For instance, in a pack of wolves, killing the alpha wolf affects every wolf. In 77% of of cases studied, a pack dissolved because their leader was killed. When a pack
In a recent poll 100 people were asked “Should trophy hunting and poaching of all animals be illegal?”. More than ¾ of those people responded with yes. Many said they thought it was cruel to kill animals and some were worried about the extinction of the species (Lundie). There is not a “humane” method of killing… many land animals face fatal injuries causing them to suffer for many days rather than killing them instantly (Gunn). Thinking it is more moral, many hunters only injure the animal to get what they want instead of killing them. That animal will have to learn to survive with any injury they face, but most will not survive. When an animal is injured, it is harder for them to take proper care of their children and make sure they are alive too, meaning they might die as well. Additionally, in a Wall Street Journal article, Terry L. Anderson asks the reader to “picture dozens of elephants with their tusks, ears, and feet dismembered… left to die” (Anderson). These elephants are torn apart for their body parts and are left to die. Elephants grieve very similarly to humans. They shed actual tears, hold funerals, and some have even died from the grief of family or friends dying. When an elephant in their herd dies, they surround it and sway together, crying. The deaths of these elephants affect the other elephants so much.Furthermore, as an expert informs, “Tusks are the elephant’s teeth — it extends into the