Now that Cecil the Lion is gone, what lessons can be taken from the controversial manner of his death?
Stuffed animals left by protesters block the doorway of River Bluff Dental clinic in Bloomington, Minnesota. Dentist Walter James Palmer, an American hunter, has been accused of killing the lion without a permit after paying $50,000 to two people who lured it out of Hwange National Park.
Reuters/David Bailey
The fact that people are still travelling thousands of miles to kill exotic animals and bring back trophies shows deeply rooted cultural problems in Western societies.
Hunting is a major source of controversy on the African continent. Many nations have strict laws against hunting while others see it as an opportunity to make money.
Coming to a forest near you?
lynx image via www.shutterstock.com
In an era flush with vaccines and antibiotics, when the greatest health risks in the developed world ride on the back of fried fish and hamburgers, it is easy to forget that infectious diseases still account…
Conservationists have recently become very excited about financial incentives. The idea is to pay people to do things that will help biodiversity, for example, where farmers are paid not to till crops…
Across the open heather moors of upland Britain, last-minute preparations are being put in place for the start of the red grouse shooting season on August 12. On average about 200,000 grouse are shot every…
This month marks the re-opening of the controversial trophy hunt for at-risk grizzly bears in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Scrutiny of this hunt was ramped up last year with new evidence that…
Despite the environment being, according to the Olympic Charter, the “third dimension of Olympism”, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has yet to act on the enormous tonnage of lead shot scattered…
William, Duke of Cambridge, second in line to the British throne, likes to go deer stalking. It must be a class thing. Until the 19th century, deer stalking – what in the US is called “hunting” – was largely…
Slow down, you’ll get indigestion.
Luca Galuzzi/www.galuzzi.it
Criticism of sport hunting nearly always focuses on whether hunting is cruel or not. A good example was provided by the recent controversy surrounding Melissa Bachmann, a keen hunter and television personality…
In an article for National Geographic and a forthcoming documentary film, author and birder Jonathan Franzen ponders the slaughter of migratory songbirds around the Mediterranean, and asks how it can be…
Introduced animals are a huge problem in conserving Australian species, but there’s no proof hunting helps.
Beppie K/flickr
Sophie Riley, University of Technology Sydney and Daniel Ramp, University of Technology Sydney
The New South Wales Government will allow hunting to continue in national parks from October, after disbanding the state’s Game Council earlier this month following a scathing review of how it was being…
We shouldn’t assume hunting, logging or grazing will damage areas like Guy Fawkes River National Park. We also shouldn’t assume they won’t.
Ian Sanderson
Countries create national parks to protect areas of biological, physical, cultural and spiritual significance. In Australia, we generally prefer national parks to be free from activities such as hunting…
Got one from the pack. Now, let’s cut things short.
Taraji Blue
Researchers have used gadget-laden collars to record cheetahs’ movements in the wild. They found that cheetahs succeed not because it is the fastest animal on land, but because of its incredible acceleration…
It’s rough out there: the waters off Townsville present many more threats to dugongs than do the hunters of the Torres Strait.
Francisco Martins
“How many are there?” and “how are they doing?” are the first questions people usually ask about species of conservation concern. These seemingly straightforward questions are tough to answer when it comes…
Dugongs rely on seagrass for food - damage to grass beds is a bigger threat to the species than Indigenous hunting.
sandwichgirl/Flickr
Jon Altman, Australian National University and Seán Kerins, Australian National University
In the 1990s some international animal rights and environment organisations instigated a concerted campaign to stop the hunting of pilot whales by Faroese people living in the northeast Atlantic. The thousand-year-old…
Global Head of Wildlife Research, World Animal Protection, and Visiting Researcher, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), University of Oxford