Trophy hunting

Trophy hunting is the selective hunting of wild game animals. While parts of the slain animal may be kept as a "hunting trophy" or memorial (usually the skin, antlers and/or head), the carcass itself is usually used as food.

Trophy hunting has firm supporters and opponents. Public debate about trophy hunting often centres on the question of the morality of sport hunting and the question of the extent to which the money paid by trophy hunters benefits the population of game animals and the local economy.

Trophy hunting should not be confused with poaching, the practice of taking game illegally.

The hunting trophy

A hunting trophy is an item prepared from the body of a game animal killed by a hunter and kept as a souvenir of the successful hunting or fishing expedition.

Often the heads or entire bodies are processed by a taxidermist, although sometimes other body parts such as teeth, tusks, or horns are used as the trophies. Hunting for the singular purpose of obtaining trophies is often considered improper today.Fact|date=March 2008

Big game hunting

A big-game hunter is a person engaged in the sport of trophy hunting for large animals or game. The pursuit of the major objective might place the hunter at risk of personal harm. Potential big-game sought include, but are not limited to: bears, big cats, hippos, elephants, rhinos, buffalos, moose, and so forth.

Trophy hunting fees and conservation

Along with Indian Blackbuck, Nilgai, axis deer, and many other exotic deer and antelope many from Africa, there are also Barasingha now found living in the wild in Texas, U.S. on lands managed as hunting ranches. Barasingha were brought to U.S. approximately 100 years back to be introduced onto land which is managed for sport hunting. Hunters pay up to $4,000 as trophy fees for hunting a Barasingha.

Opposition

In the 1970s and 1980s, many western countries assumed a pejorative association regarding hunting for trophy. By the twentieth century, there was widespread consensus in animal welfare organizations that trophy hunting is to be strongly discouraged. Many of the 189 countries signatory to the 1992 Rio Accord have developed Biodiversity Action Plans that discourage the hunting of protected species. [cite web |url=http://flaflooga.com/trophy_hunting.php |title=Arguments against trophy hunting |accessdate=2007-09-25 ]

The League Against Cruel Sports has produced a report, alleging that trophy hunting does not have a positive impact on conservation. [cite web |url=http://www.league.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_279.pdf |title=The Myth of Trophy Hunting as Conservation |accessdate=2007-09-25 ] Many hunting fees to toward conservation, such as portions of hunting license fees, hunting tags, and ammunition taxes. In addition private groups also contribute such as the National Shooting Sports Foundation which contributed over $400,000 in 2005, [ [http://www.nssf.org/news/PR_idx.cfm?PRloc=common/PR/&PR=061405.cfm State Agencies Receive Over $420,000 in Grants Through Hunting Heritage Partnership] ] and smaller private groups also contribute significant funds, for example the Grand Slam Club Ovis has raised over $2.8 million to date for conservation of sheep. [ [http://www.wildsheep.org/conservation/funding.htm Grand Slam Club Ovis] ]

See also

* Big Five game
* Deer hunting
* Elephant gun
* Fox hunting
* Reindeer hunting in Greenland

References

Further reading

*Foa, E. "After Big Game in Central Africa." St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-03274-9.

External links

* [http://www.biggamehoundsmen.com/ Big Game Hunting with Hounds]
* [http://www.safaripress.com/ Safari Press]