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Culling. Is it right or is it a massacre?. What is Culling?. Webster's Dictionary definition says culling is.. to reduce or control the size of (as a herd) by removal (as by hunting) of especially weaker animals; also : to hunt or kill (animals) as a means of population control.
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Culling Is it right or is it a massacre?
What is Culling? • Webster's Dictionary definition says culling is.. • to reduce or control the size of (as a herd) by removal (as by hunting) of especially weaker animals; also: to hunt or kill (animals) as a means of population control
Why culling? • If a species is overpopulated their resources can become depleted causing starvation. Eventually ruining and destroying the forests by overwhelming the habitat. • Overpopulation can also cause disease, inbreeding, and mutated animals.
Pros • Animals should be culled to protect other species. • Animals need to be culled to stop them eating food sources. Ex. It has been reported that one seal colony in the Outer Hebrides eats 75,000 tons of fish every year. • The population of certain animals with no predators, such as deer, will keep increasing unless they are culled. • Culling helps to keep surviving creatures fit and strong. The Forestry Commission has argued that culling makes for healthy animals.
Pros cont.. • Some animals are not native to the area and have been introduced by humans. • The carcasses of culled animals are not just burned or buried. They can be used for seal pelt coats or venison (deer meat). • Animals should be culled to protect people's way of making a living.
Cons • There are alternatives to culling. • A noise device to deter animals from damaging farmers fields, city reservoirs or dams, etc. • Relocating the animals to another location. • Reducing the main food source available to a type of animal, decreasing their numbers, rather than killing them. • Deciding which animals live or die is interfering with the process of natural selection.
Cons cont… • Culling is ineffective in the long term as the species will eventually repopulate the area. • Evidence suggests that some creatures, such as deer, can keep their own numbers down without the need for culling. A deer specialist has said that deer in a specific area can naturally have fewer fawns in response to rising numbers.
Cons cont.. • Culling is murder. • What if someone decided that China’s human population was too large and wanted to cull millions of people to control the situation? • Methods used to cull animals are often brutal, such as clubbing seals.
Canned Hunts • Also called “shooting preserves” or “game ranches.” • Canned hunts are places that allow their customers to hunt exotic animals that are trapped within an enclosure.
Canned Hunts cont… • Where do they get the animals? • Zoo’s • Private breeders • Animal dealers • These animals are normally hand raised and bottle fed making them semi-tame for easy targets. In even some cases the animals are drugged.
Canned Hunts cont… • Big business • Canned hunts are raking in plenty of cash • City business men who want the quick easy kill of the exotic animal of their choice • More than a 1,000 ranches • Active ranches in 28 states • Strange enough there is no laws banning canned hunts and most states allow it.
Canned Hunts in the News • In August 2006, Troy Gentry of Montgomery Gentry was charged with canned hunting. He was accused of buying a tame cub bear and shooting it while it was in a pen. Then arranged for a video to be produced of the “wild kill.” • Dick Cheney is also credited going to a canned hunting ranch in Pennsylvania. He and his hunting crew are said to have killed 417 pheasants and a number of mallard ducks.
Sources • www.m-w.com • http://chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/fall2003/deerdilemma.html • http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_3550000/newsid_3552500/3552512.stm • http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/stop_canned_hunts/ • http://www.elkfarmmn.com/
