The Extinction of Trophy Hunting

Habitat removal, over exploitation, biopiracy and harvesting for traditional medicines are a few reasons why some plant and animal species are disappearing. Trophy hunting is also contributing to the decline of many species.

Trophy hunting typically involves hunters paying large sums of money to kill certain animals. The carcasses or body parts are held up as symbols of success. What’s particularly disturbing about this practice is that some hunters are excited by the ability to kill species that are in decline, at-risk, and in some cases, endangered.

In his book, Killing Game - The Extinction Industry, Gon?alves notes that Canada, not South Africa, is the global source of the largest number of trophy animals killed. As a Canadian, I was astonished to learn this; I had no idea of the magnitude of trophy hunting in my country. 

It didn’t take me long on the internet to get a better sense for the size of this commercial trophy hunting industry in Canada and to discover that trophy hunting in Canada focuses on Polar, Brown and Black Bears. One website proudly declares that Canadian brown bears are typically bigger than those harvested to the south, in the US. It also notes that brown bears are more coveted than black bears and that some areas in Canada are hotspots for these colourful, sought-after bears.  

Oddly, the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) identifies trophy hunting as a “non-commercial” activity claiming that it is consistent with and contributes to wildlife conservation. Others say trophy hunting is a Western practice driven by chauvinism and colonialism. In some ways I see trophy hunting as an opportunity for egos to claim superiority over recreational hunters and certainly over animals. Some trophy hunters proudly claim that they are addicted to the thrill of the kill.

Sadly, greed is partly why some species are endangered. We need look carefully at the pressure that trophy hunting is having on natural ecosystems and their species. And we need to consider the cumulative effects of trophy hunting together with the legal and illegal trade in wildlife. More is being harvested from the landscape than can be sustainably supported and the lists of species at risk are growing longer, not shorter.

I am following the work of several individuals who are attempting to rein in trophy hunting and the illegal trade in wildlife. I read and follow the works of intelligent and courageous individuals including Eduardo Gon?alves, John M Sellar and John E. Scanlon AO. I’m also grateful to Mbaria and Ogada who wrote a very enlightening and helpful book, The Big Conservation Lie, which includes an interesting chapter about white corruption in African conservation.

It’s time for a more concerted global effort to end trophy hunting and illegal wildlife crimes including the trading of species that are losing the race against extinction. And it’s beyond time to see the extinction of the commercial trophy hunting industry.