June Choi
EW2-020
December 08, 2015
Trophy Hunting: Should People Be Allowed To
Hunt Exotic Animals Like Lions In Africa?
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| Figure 1. An Elk |
In my opinion, hunting exotic animals such as lions should be prohibited to conserve population of endangered species and to protect the rights of animals. [1] According
to Savetherhino.com, trophy hunting is defined as " a specific and
selective legal form of wildlife use that involves payment for a hunting
experience and the acquisition of a trophy by the hunter and is only allowed
under strict permit conditions". In these days, there is on-going
controversy on trophy hunting whether can be justified. Those who hunt exotic
animals in Africa pay a great amount of money in order to
hunt exotic animals. On the other hand, many
ecologists attempt to save the endangered species to balance the ecosystem. The
problem is that the influence of trophy hunting impacts
on significant decline in population of many exotic species. Why does trophy hunting affect to the significant drops
in population of exotic animals despite of the strict permit conditions? First of all, the permit
on trophy hunting is being abused, so the effort of conservation on
endangered species would be collapsed. [2] Originally, the purpose of legal
trophy hunting is to raise money for conservation efforts, according to
National Geographic, and it is only allowed in some African countries such as
Zimbabwe and South Africa. However, animals living in the National Park are
banned to hunt even in Zimbabwe and South Africa. [3] According to Wikipedia, the
lion Cecil, a major
attraction at the park and was being studied and tracked by the University of
Oxford as part of a larger study since 1999, was wounded with an arrow by a big
game hunter, Walter Palmer, and approximately 40 hours later, killed with a
rifle outside of the
park. In fact, Walter Palmer intended to draw out Cecil to outside of the
National Park, but he denied that the killing Cecil is not an illegal act
because he paid $50,000 and Cecil was not killed in the park. Of course, the
rule of trophy hunting is very confusing that only animals roaming in the
National Park can be protected; however, this doesn’t mean that trophy hunts
can be justified. [2]According to National Geographic, when a dominant male
lion is killed, another male will take his place at the head of the pride.
Typically, he will kill any existing cubs, in order to make room for his own
offspring. Cecil had an estimated 24 cubs among six lionesses. This also tells
that trophy hunting can significantly affect to the drops in population of
lions (endangered species). Second, animals are not tools that humans like to
play with. Animals are living beings that have own rights of their lives.
Humans cannot violate the rights of their lives for selfishness. Some people tend
to like to show off their unique experiences to others and feel catharsis on
killing exotic animals. In the case of Cecil, Walter Palmer shot Cecil with the
arrow and left for 40 hours. This tells how much he was so brutal that Cecil
suffered from the wound for approximately 2 days and was finally killed with a
gun. In my understanding, his intent on leaving wounded Ceil for 40 hours is
not acceptable. It is inevitable to make the judgment that he definitely
enjoyed having fun on watching Cecil’s death. [4] According to Keith Taylor,
Green party MEP for south-east England, said, “It’s outrageous that lions are
being killed just so someone in Europe can decorate their home with the body
parts.” This tells how much the result of sacrifice is meaningless and the
human beings are cruel to animals. [2] Moreover, according to National Geographic,
skins, bones, and other materials resulting from a hunt can find their way into
the black market, where they fuel demand in Asia for traditional cures or
status symbols. This tells that dead bodies of exotic animals would go to the
illegal black market for edible purpose as well. For these two reasons, exotic animals like lions are not belongings to humans and should be protected for the sustainability of the species.
<Works Cited>
[4] Vaughan, A. (2015, July 27). Killing of Cecil the lion prompts calls for EU ban on importing lion trophies. theguardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/27/killing-of-cecil-the-lion-prompts-call-for-eu-ban-on-importing-lion-trophies on December 05, 2015
<Reference Image by>
Figure 1: An Elk - Michael Zavros. (2008). Yatzer. Retrieved from https://www.yatzer.com/trophy-hunter-michael-zavros on December 05, 2015
Dear June,
답글삭제I read your writing well. I also empathize with your idea. By the way, I still don't know what a word 'trophy hunting' means. I think it will be better for you to define the word 'trophy hunting' more simple and specific. Also, it will be great that you state the reference of definition of 'trophy hunting' from 'Savethehino'. Then, readers can understand and believe more easily your claims about subject. Lastly, I will talk to you one more thing. Sorry....I think there is a little opinion in your writing. It seems there are more obvious facts than your opinions in your writing. If you add your opinions more, your writing will be great opinion paragraph!
Best wishes,
Ahram
Hi Jungwon,
답글삭제I agree with your opinion. I think people should be allowed to hunt exotic animals like lions or elephants. I read your post, and I think it need more reason and example ,so I recommend one reason for your paragraph. Here is reason. Animals are precious life like people. Animals are one of the ecosystem ,and people are not in the top of ecosystem. People should be in harmony with animals. Isn't it good for your opinion's reason? It's your choice to use my comment.
Have a good luck,
YoungJae
Hello Jungwon,
답글삭제I really enjoyed your paragraph, but I want to tell about something. First, your paragraph has weak reasons. Your first reason is very nice, but it does not have second reason. It makes unnatural writing. Second, your paragraph has a lot of difficult word, but you don't explain that. For example, there are trophy hunting, which Ahram says, acquisition, etc. Please tell me more information about that. If you fix them, you will write the better one. Thanks for reading my comment.
Have a good day,
Jaekyoung
Hi Jungwon,
답글삭제I read your paragraph carefully. I also feel empathy with your idea that people should not be allowed to hunt exotic animals. I like your paragraph, but I think you should add information on your paragraph. Your paragraph has some difficult words like trophy hunting. I found about that, but I cannot find it in English dictionary. I think you should write footnote that explains about trophy hunting on your paragraph. Then, other people would understand your paragraph more easily.
Thanks,
Eom Hong Sik
Dear Jungwon,
답글삭제I agree with your opinion that people should not be allowed to hunt exotic animals like lions or elephants in Africa. As you said, the permit is being abused in Africa and animal which one of the world's rarest species grows less. I hope abused hunting is decreased.
Thanks,
Eunju
Hi June,
답글삭제I'm happy to read your writing because your topic is similar to mine! My topic is ‘Animal testing for cosmetics’, so our common interest is the animals. Through your paragraph, I became knew what the trophy hunting is. I didn’t know about that because before I read yours, I thought there are only poachers, not the traffic in endangered animals. How cruel the humans are! It is pretty serious that treat the animals like tools for humans. My topic’s animals are used for examination about safety of human, but yours just interest. I think those are equally severe, so I want to talk about these topics with you. Thank you for this wonderful writing!
Sincerely,
Jihyeon