not-so-friendly reminder that hunting is an important part of conservation in many cases and that painting all hunting as morally, ethically, and/or environmentally “bad” does a major disservice to indigenous people, poor communities, and our environment
Conservation biologists actually work with hunters (and fishers) a lot in monitoring species health! Hunters will often know before anyone else when numbers are declining, have a vested interest in keeping the population around, and are often involved in research collaborations where they bring their kills in to be measured/have tissue taken for research.
There can be tension when restrictions conflict with the need to make rent, and trophy hunters are not included in this (going after only the largest members of a population and not even using the body for food is pretty bad for conservation). But hunters and conservationists can be, and should be, natural allies.
The Minnesota DNR has had a program for the last several years where they work with hunters to track Chronic Wasting Disease (a rather nasty neurological disease caused by prions) in local white-tailed deer populations, just as a single example!
Really really REALLY wanna emphasize one of the points no one’s boosting here, that a firm anti-hunting stance is INHERENTLY ANTI-NATIVE. Please don’t forget that these policies are extremely racist towards our already extremely marginalized communities.
