Hunting has been all over the news lately and not for the right reasons. The saga of Cecil the lion and Walter Palmer the dentist is ongoing, but what it means for hunting and conservation efforts worldwide will be everlasting. First off, we would like to say that there is so much good to hunting. It is necessary component of conservation that keeps the environment in balance.
Without hunters, certain animals and game would run rampant, putting entire ecosystems at risk of collapsing. That is, of course, not a good thing. Secondly, hunting is a necessary balm that soothes the rashness of life. For many, hunting is in the blood, something passed down from previous generations; it is the glue that holds many families and communities together and, without it, those communities would collapse like imbalanced ecosystems.
What the Cecil saga is proving is that people WORLDWIDE need to know more about hunting, what’s legal, what’s illegal, what hunters can AND can’t do. The reason why animals like Cecil are important to protect is that they are endangered or not as populous as they once were, and since we’re the caretakers of the world, it is our responsibility to protect these beautiful creatures.
Again, we would like to stress the importance of conservation. Every animal, large and small, is an important cog of the ecosystem machines; by pulling one out of the equation, you’re throwing us at risk. You’re also removing beauty from the world. Hunting isn’t about murder; it’s about an appreciation of natural beauty, the preservation of it.
As this story develops, we are certain to see drastic measures being taken by people and companies. For example, major American airlines are already contemplating stopping the transportation of big game trophies from Africa, if they haven’t already done so. This will cripple the economies of Africa, which rely on the money brought in from these hunts.
Who knows what will happen next; everything seems up in the air, but it’s clear that the ripples will affect all of us. Hopefully our ecosystem won’t collapse under the weight of all that unbalancing.