NRC 261 1st Edition Outline of Last Lecture II Wildlife Living in Urban Areas Lecture 17 III Wildlife Enhancement IV Wildlife Control a Kinds of problems in urban areas b Nuisance Damage management c Techniques i Non lethal ii Lethal Outline of Current Lecture II Definitions III What roles do hunting and trapping fill a Consumption b Economics c Recreation d Ecological Management e Financial and Political Support IV Why is hunting and trapping so controversial V What s wrong with hunting and trapping VI From a biological perspective what should we do VII From a social perspective what should we do Current Lecture These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute How and why should hunting and trapping regulations differ between the United States and Mexico humans have hunted for a long period of time The whole enterprise of hunting as a way to gather food has played a role in the culture of societies all around the world Without hunting humans as we are today would not exist still controversial important role pos and neg in wildlife conservation Definitions Harvest any removal from the wild doesn t matter whether its dead or alive if you re taking it out of nature but is this a euphemism a nice way of saying that you re going to kill something and eat it does matter whether this harvest is legal or illegal Controversy surrounding the word it sounds too agricultural The idea of harvesting wildlife doesn t seem to fit for some people however it is a renewable natural resource taking a small portion of the annual production especially if you re managing it Hunting and trapping legal harvest of wildlife by individual citizens for personal use Commercial harvesting legal harvest intended for sale ex fish in the ocean capturing large animals that end up in the meat section of the local market not considered specifically hunting trapping seen as more of an individual thing however people can hunt or trap and make money from it Poaching intentional killing out of season without a license permit etc not hunting or trapping wouldn t be illegally hunting the activity of hunting is a legal activity as we think about it in society when the killing is not legal it is not acceptable What roles do hunting and trapping fill Why do we do it Consumption Food resource harvest in rural Amazonia shown in of pounds per person a year They ate mostly birds then mammals then lastly reptiles 8 million people were each consuming around 55 or 60 pounds per person of wild meat resource harvest in Alaska differs between native peoples and those in urban communities but in some places it could be around a pound per person a day Clothing leather fur a lot of times for function needed in colder places like Alaska Economics Individual income like fur trappers selling fur on individual market this is a substantial part of their income each year if you get enough to eat and you get extra you can end up selling it or bartering it to someone else like in poorer countries Protection reduce problems or costs of business coyotes killing sheeps or moles digging up crops etc elephants causing major crop damage in Kenya families lost annual food supply in Kenya because elephants came through and ate it hunting and trapping can help get rid of the economic problem that wildlife can pose Recreation sport for some people it is an enjoyable activity Social reasons can be a social occasion doing this activity together can increase bonds ex going up to the deer camp in the fall in the Midwestern areas like Minnesota Ecological management Overpopulation ex when there s too many deer instigating deer hunts can be good to help get the deer population down deer can negatively affect the landscape and plant species abundance Endangered Species management endangered swift foxes outcompeted by coyotes hunting trap coyotes to make sure the foxes get enough food and resources get rid of bad wildlife to help endangered wildlife Financial and political support Why is hunting and trapping so controversial Culture large cultural differences History how and where people have lived and where they came from variation over time people s ideas change as change occurs viewpoints adapt Experience grew up in the city with no exposure to hunting or trapping vs living on the farm where you had to kill chickens for example Tolerance whether you can deal with other people s differing opinions and ideas or if you can t get along with someone if they have a different viewpoint on hunting than you do What s wrong with hunting and trapping Why people don t embrace it or understand appreciate it Too many populations are endangered a good number of endangered species that got this way because they were over hunted or over harvested for commercial purposes exploited ex no more passenger pigeons because we shot them all Unnecessary why do you have to why can t you just leave things alone don t believe that there is a good enough excuse for hunting or if you have to do it for food then its okay but if you have a choice then just don t do it Hunting has to do with guns guns are associated with killing other people via war school shootings etc people don t like the connected with guns and death Some means of harvest are inhumane or non sporting either perceived to be this way or it really is this way many people think that hunting is not fair and others believe that animals have plenty of chance to escape ex lion captured being let out of a box and someone yards away shoots perceived as being completely inhumane and not sporting at all trapping usually considered inhumane cruel leaving an animal stuck in a trap for hours days on end Trophy hunting excessive behavior some people enjoy hunting the biggest animal they can find other people hate this idea Unethical morally wrong seen as wrong to take the life of other animals No experience an unfamiliar activity not many people have experience with it and so its easy to shun it or avoid it or even judge it without understanding what it is like Considerations Touchy subject like politics and religion not dinner table conversation people have strong emotions about it both negative and positive Limited perspectives whether you re rich or poor has a big difference on how you view a particular activity do it in different ways for different reasons have to understand the perspectives of the people you re dealing with