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Hunting with a valid reason (for food, population control, etc.) is acceptable and/or a necessity.
Hunting for funsies only - including all the BS safari hunting that are essentially glorified high tech fishing trips - is disgusting
BS safari hunting funds conservation in ways that are unachievable otherwise
Well, then this funding source should not be pursued
Then animals die, populations drop, restoration programs end
Not if the funding is made up somewhere else?
It isn't though, which is why conservation groups that hunt are a net positive in practice. The members also tend to discourage poaching, push harder for maintaining ecosystems, and other stuff beyond what funding can do on its own because the individuals who tend to be involved have ofher forms of influence and power.
It sucks that this is how the world works, but in this specific case it works.
Yeah, I’m less so making at argument about what is currently happening, and more just saying that I would prefer a world in which we fund conservation differently, and we should try to move things in that direction
Two kinds of people typically hunt endangered animals: rich assholes and starving people. A straight ban on hunting these animals does nothing to solve either problem.
We know rich assholes are going to do what they want by whatever means, including exploiting animals and the poor, so I don't think I need to go into that.
Poor people will hunt endangered animals or take rich people to hunt them because both those paths lead to them and their families eating. They may care about the animals, they may not, but they and their families need food and money to live.
Legalized hunting of endangered game does a lot to solve all these problems. Poor people become legitimate guides. Poachers in places like Tanzania were for a while allowed to be killed legally. Now they aren't shot for trying to provide food for people and are putting the money into their villages. The people now have economic incentive to protect these animals to protect their new local tourism. Associated services are created to make the destination attractive. Governments see the benefit of monitoring and protecting these species.
It's not perfect. Anti-poaching measures leads to violence on both sides, just as things like the war on drugs. Things like legalized gambling, drugs, and prostitution help prevent exploitation, keeps participants safer in their activities, and allows monitoring and oversight by regulators. Some will still poach no matter what. But it brings more things to the open and people can work with facts and figures about their local situations.
I don't like the idea of trophy hunting anymore than I like seeing people participate in other senseless and destructive vices, but we can ensure people do things in ways that are better and safe for all involved.
I do hunt for one deer a year myself. Where I am has a higher number than is sustainable, and with people having less money and time off than ever, the state cannot get all the deer they want to be hunted as things are. It lets me take one animal that gets me through most of the year instead of however many from the store, and I know it's all natural and never spent a moment in captivity. Hunting is mostly a chore for me, though I do enjoy the time in the woods and spending a few days with my brother.
There's an incredible Radio Lab episode called "the rhino hunter" that deep dives into this fact, and it's honestly one of the most emotionally confusing pieces of media I've ever encountered. Highly recommend.
"Man, this baby grinding machine sure eats a lot of babies, but think of all the money it generates!"