By Thai Rushbrook
We live in a world that questions morality daily. With new changes in what’s accepted in our society, challenges arise as to what’s really ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. One such controversial topic is hunting, a sport that involves pursuing and killing an animal.
We live in a world that questions morality daily. With new changes in what’s accepted in our society, challenges arise as to what’s really ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. One such controversial topic is hunting, a sport that involves pursuing and killing an animal.
Hunting animals for sport began in ancient times, possibly even as far back as hunting for food. The first types of hunting were competitions to see which men could kill the largest, deadliest animal. Pelts were commonly worn as trophies to celebrate ones achievements. This tradition continued to evolve until hounds were used to assist hunters on horseback. Using dogs to kill animals was banned in 2004, but today hunting is legal as long as you have a license and permission from the owner of the land to hunt. The animals must not be fleeing from fire or smoke and the hunter must only hunt certain animals in certain seasons, as well as many other strict rules.
With the increasing amount of social media being used, it’s becoming increasingly easy to share stories and express opinions for the world to see. The story of Rebecca Francis is one example of events concerning hunting going viral.
Rebecca Francis had her moment of fame after Ricky Gervais shared a photo of Rebecca lying next to a giraffe she had recently shot (see below)
With the increasing amount of social media being used, it’s becoming increasingly easy to share stories and express opinions for the world to see. The story of Rebecca Francis is one example of events concerning hunting going viral.
Rebecca Francis had her moment of fame after Ricky Gervais shared a photo of Rebecca lying next to a giraffe she had recently shot (see below)
This sparked a wave of hatred towards Rebecca, as she received threats from the public.
“The whole world is rooting for you to be ripped to shreds”
"A poor excuse for a human being"
“May that horrible woman die a lonely, painful death.”
These are just some of the comments on Rebecca Francis’ Facebook page. It seems the public has a clear opinion on the actions of Rebecca, but the hunter claims the animal was "inevitably going to die soon and he could either be wasted or utilized by the local people. I chose to honour his life by providing others with his uses and I do not regret it for one second.
The case of Rebecca Francis is just one example of the world’s views on hunting. The controversy comes from questioning the morality of a traditional hobby. Perhaps the animal was close to death, but it is questionable how Rebecca would have known this for certain, and how ‘honourable’ it is to take a selfie with the corpse and put it on social media.
It could be argued that there is nothing more natural than hunting, as it is seen in every ecosystem with predators vs prey , but it is questionable how ‘natural’ it is when we take into consideration the amount of animals we harvest that could be considered ‘unnatural’. More than 3,000 animals die every second in slaughterhouses around the world, which goes towards the huge amount of meat we consume. Many animals are facing extinction as we continue to exhaust our resources, so I believe that the need to hunting to ‘control animal population’ is redundant is today’s world.
By encouraging people to hunt, we are also encouraging people like Rebecca Francis to hunt as a hobby until it becomes a part of their life and their identity. There is a huge community of hunters who live and breathe hunting and kill huge amounts of wildlife for sport.
Hunting is even legal in Australia where 87% of the animals are endemic and by killing them we are endangering Australia’s delicate and unique ecosystem.
With all this evidence against hunting, it is not unreasonable to ask; why is hunting still legal and still a popular hobby?
Animals are different from humans. This simple fact is what inspires people to take up hunting. It's clear to everyone that humans are different from other animals and are a unique mammal. Animals are much less intelligent/evolved than humans so it is arguable whether or not they should have similar rights to humans. Some people also use hunting to provide themselves with food.
I believe that hunting should not be legal except for food where needed and more endangered predators can be released to balance out any increase in animal population. No matter what you believe, hunting is clearly a controversial sport and you must decide on your own opinions before trying this hobby or any that are similar. Let us know below what you think about hunting.
“The whole world is rooting for you to be ripped to shreds”
"A poor excuse for a human being"
“May that horrible woman die a lonely, painful death.”
These are just some of the comments on Rebecca Francis’ Facebook page. It seems the public has a clear opinion on the actions of Rebecca, but the hunter claims the animal was "inevitably going to die soon and he could either be wasted or utilized by the local people. I chose to honour his life by providing others with his uses and I do not regret it for one second.
The case of Rebecca Francis is just one example of the world’s views on hunting. The controversy comes from questioning the morality of a traditional hobby. Perhaps the animal was close to death, but it is questionable how Rebecca would have known this for certain, and how ‘honourable’ it is to take a selfie with the corpse and put it on social media.
It could be argued that there is nothing more natural than hunting, as it is seen in every ecosystem with predators vs prey , but it is questionable how ‘natural’ it is when we take into consideration the amount of animals we harvest that could be considered ‘unnatural’. More than 3,000 animals die every second in slaughterhouses around the world, which goes towards the huge amount of meat we consume. Many animals are facing extinction as we continue to exhaust our resources, so I believe that the need to hunting to ‘control animal population’ is redundant is today’s world.
By encouraging people to hunt, we are also encouraging people like Rebecca Francis to hunt as a hobby until it becomes a part of their life and their identity. There is a huge community of hunters who live and breathe hunting and kill huge amounts of wildlife for sport.
Hunting is even legal in Australia where 87% of the animals are endemic and by killing them we are endangering Australia’s delicate and unique ecosystem.
With all this evidence against hunting, it is not unreasonable to ask; why is hunting still legal and still a popular hobby?
Animals are different from humans. This simple fact is what inspires people to take up hunting. It's clear to everyone that humans are different from other animals and are a unique mammal. Animals are much less intelligent/evolved than humans so it is arguable whether or not they should have similar rights to humans. Some people also use hunting to provide themselves with food.
I believe that hunting should not be legal except for food where needed and more endangered predators can be released to balance out any increase in animal population. No matter what you believe, hunting is clearly a controversial sport and you must decide on your own opinions before trying this hobby or any that are similar. Let us know below what you think about hunting.