Doesn hunting control wildlife populations that would otherwise get out of hand?
Starvation and disease are unfortunate, but they are nature’s way of ensuring that the strong survive. Natural predators help keep prey species strong by killing only the sick and weak. Hunters, however, kill any animal they come across or any animal they think would look good mounted above the fireplace–often the large, healthy animals needed to keep the population strong. In fact, hunting creates the ideal conditions for accelerated reproduction. The abrupt drop in population leads to less competition among survivors, resulting in a higher birth rate. If we were really concerned about keeping animals from starving, we would not hunt, but, rather, take steps to reduce the animals’ fertility. We would also preserve wolves, mountain lions, coyotes, and other natural predators. In actuality, many predator species are killed in order to produce more and more “game”; animals for hunters to kill. Hunters often assert that their practices benefit their victims. A variation on the theme is t
