Hunting: Good for the Environment or Destructive

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Hunting: Good for the Environment or Destructive Hunting has been a way of life for thousands of years. It’s only been over the last 100 years or so that it has brought conflict among people. As long as the human race has been in existence, there has been hunting. Even then there were severe consequences resulting from over hunting a particular species. Hunting may have an effect on the natural predator-prey relationship. It may also have drastic effects on the habitat that is used by other non-targeted species. There are also benefits from hunting. It helps control populations, and the money hunters spend helps support local economies where hunting is popular. There are many groups that are for and against hunting. The consequences of continuing or eliminating the current practices of hunting may have a profound effect on the natural environment. Sharon Levy, the author of ” Hunting Plays a Crucial Role in Maintaining Natural Habitats and the Environment,” says that with proper management hunting can be a good thing. Hunters help to control the population of their prey. When they become overpopulated, the whole eco-system can be drastically affected. Native food sources can be depleted very quickly which can result in extinction. For example, the loss of cougars and wolves in much of the U.S has led to many species becoming over populated. Without the whitetail deer being hunted, there would be major crop damage and many more car versus deer accidents. Overpopulation often leads to disease and malnutrition. Too many deer in one area have been shown to have a major impact throughout the whole ecosystem. They have been shown to cause declines in the amount and diversity of forest life, from canopy-nesting birds, to mice and insects. Following a time when our native forests were being clear cut, the deer population sky rocketed. Uncontrolled deer populations

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