A contradictory idea?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Legal hunting can be divided<\/a> into three categories: subsistence hunting for personal consumption, commercial hunting for the sale of animal products, and recreational hunting, in which hunters pursue and kill animals primarily for leisure and enjoyment. Proponents of recreational trophy hunting<\/a> say it can create jobs, benefit local communities and conserve nature. But critics point to the challenges of regulating the activity, or raise ethical concerns about what it means to sacrifice an animal purely for entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Robles Gil takes a long view. He says hunting was key to the success of our species, and that the hunters of the past helped to conserve large areas and many species worldwide. He gives the example of Indian Maharajas, arguing that their fondness for hunting tigers had, ironically, protected the species. But his views of modern practices are more nuanced. While he has spoken out against unsustainable hunting of endangered species, he also says that, in specific cases, hunting can contribute to conservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This idea may seem contradictory, but the underlying logic is simple in theory, explains Adam Hart, a zoologist and co-author of the book Trophy Hunting<\/a>. \u201cPeople who hunt pay for the privilege of hunting, pay licence and trophy fees, and that money goes into managing the area and providing incentives to maintain wildlife,\u201d he tells Dialogue Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, Hart\u2019s co-author Nikolaj Bichel highlighted that researchers have documented the success of this approach in conserving species such as polar bears in Canada, rhinos in South Africa and markhor goats in Pakistan. In Mexico too, there are success stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Robles Gil mentions the emblematic example of Mexico\u2019s bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis<\/em>). Across North America, the population of this species plummeted from around 1 million in 1800 to fewer than 25,000 by 1950, but has since recovered to between 60,000 and 80,000 individuals, according to a 2019 report<\/a> by the Mexican CITES Scientific Authority. In Mexico, bighorn sheep were extirpated from large areas of the country in the 20th century due to habitat loss, livestock diseases and illegal hunting. But controlled hunting, together with intensive breeding and reintroduction programmes, has reportedly enabled the species to recover from local extinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to CITES, since the beginning of authorised trophy hunting, numbers have grown steadily in Mexico, with the state of Sonora the prime example: between 2006 and 2016, its wild population reportedly increased by 40%, with an additional 2,500 sheep in captive breeding facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hunters will pay between USD 35,000 and USD 65,000 to hunt and kill a bighorn sheep, Alejandro Ju\u00e1rez Reina, director of wildlife management consultancy Aljure Consultores tells Dialogue Earth. He says that when landholders realise how much the animals are worth, they will take care of them and register with the government so that people can hunt them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hunters in Mexico can target 51 species of birds and 28 species of mammals, during hunting seasons<\/a> set out in the General Wildlife Law. The regulation of hunting depends on a mechanism created in 1997 to allow economic use of wildlife in areas that register as Management Units for the Conservation of Wildlife<\/a> (UMAs, by their Spanish initials). The Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources regulates and monitors how UMAs sell hunting permits to the hunters using their land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The community-managed Santa Cruz Achichipilco UMA in the central state of Puebla offers a successful example. According to research<\/a> published in 2015, hunting of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus mexicanus<\/em>) and other species in the UMA generated income of USD 20,000 to USD 30,000 during each year\u2019s three-month hunting season. The controlled use of hunting resources was said to have led to both environmental and social benefits: the population of white-tailed deer increased and their habitat improved thanks to sustainable management efforts; economically, jobs were created, and the area received direct income; and socially, awareness of conservation reportedly grew, and local residents were trained in managing the UMA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the south-eastern state of Campeche, controlled, seasonal hunting in UMAs has reportedly benefitted<\/a> ocellated turkeys (Meleagris ocellata<\/em>), a species whose numbers had declined significantly because of habitat loss and overexploitation. Marie Palma Irizarry, president of Bio Animal Wild International, tells Dialogue Earth that populations of these birds recovered because hunting generated an entire economy, and gave immigrant Mennonite communities an alternative to clearing forested land for agriculture that encouraged conservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do these cases represent a triumph for conservation? Nikolaj Bichel says that critics might say that regulated hunting \u201chas led to wildlife management that overly favours hunters and the species hunted, rather than the overall health of ecosystems, which is sometimes a very fair argument.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite positive accounts of recreational hunting, there are also many biological, economic and institutional challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While hunting appears to have benefited populations of bighorn sheep in Mexico, research in Canada has revealed a curious side effect. A 30-year study<\/a> of a wild population showed that hunting had contributed to a decline in body weight and horn size of male bighorn sheep, because hunters targeted those with larger horns. As a result, the animals with genes for slower horn growth were more likely to survive and reproduce, altering the population\u2019s traits over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Mexico, hunting has also been linked<\/a> to negative impacts on the social structures of white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari<\/em>) in Calakmul, in Campeche state, with the animals observed as living in smaller-sized groups that may make them more vulnerable to predation \u2013 a change directly linked to hunting pressure in the area. Elsewhere, researchers have warned that some UMAs have tried to diversify their offer to hunters by introducing exotic species, which have potential to harm local ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another challenge highlighted by researchers is the narrow focus of many UMAs on hunting, which leaves them vulnerable to fluctuations in the hunting market, and means they miss opportunities to adopt more sustainable activities such as ecotourism. Experts also told Dialogue Earth that the complexity of ecosystems and the lack of professionals trained in integrated wildlife management make it challenging for UMAs to implement adequate management plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Alejandro Ju\u00e1rez Reina, the two main challenges are ensuring that revenues generated from hunting reach local communities and that there is adequate regulation and surveillance by the authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEveryone talks about conservation,\u201d he says, \u201cbut if you go to a community and say, \u2018Don\u2019t kill it\u2019 or \u2018Don\u2019t touch it\u2019, but there is no economic benefit\u2026 the community has to eat. The main thing is to generate economic income for the community. Then, everyone will take care of the animals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Experts also told Dialogue Earth how weak regulation and oversight can lead to illegal practices such as hunting of females, calves or protected species. Corruption and a lack of transparency in managing UMAs can also lead to overexploitation of wildlife and habitat degradation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But according to Arturo Berlanga, director of animal rights organisation AnimaNaturalis M\u00e9xico<\/a>, regulatory controls are practically impossible to enforce. He points out that the Directorate-General of Wildlife, an agency under the environment secretariat, oversees more than 11,000 UMAs and small or medium enterprises. Each UMA must submit an environmental and wildlife management plan annually, report animal deaths with a veterinary medical certificate, and also report the sale or reproduction of animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDoes the government have the capacity to verify this?\u201d Berlanga asks. \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond the challenges of implementing public policy, and questions about ecological impacts, there are also ethical concerns about hunting, especially regarding trophy hunting. This practice, in which hunters retain parts of the animal \u2013 such as deer antlers or the horns of bighorn sheep \u2013 as symbols of their triumph, sparks particularly heated debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Javier S\u00e1nchez, a 43-year-old who hunts with his father and sons, says he treasures every moment with the trophies he keeps at his home in Puebla. He sees hunting as a way to contribute to conservation but, above all, as a way to encounter and appreciate nature with friends and family. The trophy, he tells Dialogue Earth, is just \u201cthe icing on the cake\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But a look at almost any social media account where hunters exhibit their trophies can reveal solid public opposition. Researchers have also suggested<\/a> this to be especially true in the case of wealthy hunters who pursue large mammals such as lions and elephants, reinforcing a macho, anthropocentric and chauvinistic discourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Ram\u00f3n P\u00e9rez Gil, president of the Mexican Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) \u201cbad hunters\u201d and \u201chappy triggers\u201d should be opposed, but he acknowledges the potential of well-managed hunting to support conservation efforts, creating a balance between human needs and ecological preservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"bighorn](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/bighorn-sheep_Portland_US_Dan-Dzurisin_Flickr_2943693940.jpg\")
<\/div>Mexico\u2019s wildlife management areas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"white-tailed](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/female-white-tailed-deer_Alejandro-Gonzalez-Reina-2.jpg\")
<\/div>Many challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"two](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/collared-wild-boar_hunted_Mixteca-Poblana-region_Alejandro-Gonzalez-Reina.jpg\")
<\/div>Trophies of triumph<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Animal lovers will never understand hunters. And hunters will never understand animal lovers.<\/blockquote>Patricio Robles Gil, conservationist and photographer<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
![\"orange-breasted](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/orange-breasted-bunting_Alejandro-Gonzalez-Reina.jpg\")
<\/div>![\"jaguar](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/female_jaguar_Matto-Grosso-Brazil_Patricio-Robles-Gil.jpg\")
<\/div>