RE: Making Wildlife Conservation Fun and Profitable
I'll say that I don't understand how anyone can derive pleasure from killing animals for sport, and I'd love to see the situation develop where these animals are more valuable to humans alive than dead, so it would be a non-issue. I think that should be the goal.
As I noted in the article, though, PERC points out cases where some species - even lions in Zimbabwe - can be protected by big game hunting. IMO, that's not ideal, but it's still better than existing alternatives. After all, the lions' main threat is not hunting. Their main threats are habitat destruction, decline in prey species, and spontaneous encounters with humans. So, if conservationists can use controlled hunting to reduce those other threats, then even though I might not understand the people who like sport-killing, it's still better for the species than doing nothing.
Yes, it is the loss of their natural habit which is the cause of their disappearance as you so rightly point out. Indeed the documentary i talked of pointed this out. Its the spreading of cities and man which is the threat ! I realise that their are arguments put up by these " big game " farms which offer these beautiful animals as moving targets for the pleasure of their customers, which say that the economy of this culling can prevent further damage to their numbers. But i fail to see how the proliferation of these animals can be helped by offering them as " trigger " bait for the rich and stupid. We do need another solution which will protect them and not one that clearly adds to their demise !!
On that, we certainly agree. Thank you for the discussion!