Many animals fall victim to trophy hunting, which is where animals get hunted for sport, instead of for food. Within the span of four years (2014 to 2018) 72,617 wild mammal trophies were imported to the U.S., according to the Humane World Action Fund.
Trophy hunting animals is a brutal practice and should be made illegal.
Society should not be killing animals for sport and prestige. The killing of animals is inherently cruel and animals don’t deserve to suffer.
Animals that are trophy hunted, or even just hunted in general, undergo stress due to the fear, commotion and the loud noises that hunters create, according to PETA. Responsible hunting may help the conservation of healthy wildlife populations and ecosystems, but it should not be at the expense of cruelty toward the animal.
Trophy hunting does not help conservation. Instead, it only makes conservation worse. Trophy hunting tends to target species that are already endangered.
Trophy hunters weaken wildlife by targeting the largest and most powerful animals, such as lions, elephants and leopards. Trophy hunters target these specific animals because they tend to make the most profit and most sought after “trophies.”
These specific animals such as lions, elephants and leopards are also endangered, and their populations are declining rapidly. For example, the Amur Leopard is a type of leopard where there are only around 60 of them remaining. The lion population nowadays only inhabits 8% of their former range, with their population only being around 20,000-25,000. Even African forest elephants have declined in population, with them declining by 62% between 2002-2011.
Some argue trophy hunting contributes in a positive way economically by creating jobs and being a big part of the nation’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product). However, these claims are false. Across eight African nations, trophy hunting only supports 7,500 to 15,500 jobs and only accounts for 0.03% of GDP, a small part, according to Born Free USA.
By keeping trophy hunting legal, it sends the message that the animals getting hunted are only important when they are dead. Lawmakers should make trophy hunting illegal so society can have respect for nature. Animals are an important part of society, and they should not be getting killed just for show and when they’ve done no harm to anyone.
To protect the lives of animals, it’s pivotal that lawmakers ban trophy hunting outright. Animals don’t deserve to die, especially in a world where extinction of animals is a real problem. The killing of animals is not something that should be celebrated.
