On the hunt: Adri Kritzhoff, chief executive of the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa and professional hunter Tavi Fragoso at the Iwamanzi Game Reserve in Koster. Photo: Stefan Heunis/AFP
I often wonder why people hunt, be it trophy hunting or sport meat hunting. I always thought it was the most sporty thing to do, stand aloof and shoot a high-powered weapon at a clean animal.
For me, it reeked of toxic (read fragile) masculinity, unnecessary brutality and barbarism. I know this may be rich coming from me, who eats meat and loves some chops in a braai.
Trophy hunters have been around for a long time. Scientific American reports, “The slaughter of large and dangerous animals has been a spectacle since thousands of years ago, with records from the Assyrian empire (about 4,000 years ago to about 600 BC) describing kings who boasted of killing elephants, ibex, ostriches, wild bulls. and lions,” referring to a study published in 2008 in the journal Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research.
I know like I’m sitting on a high horse, but I only consume kosher meat and it gives me like “this is okay” because the slaughter is done ethically and in the best way for the animal, if. something like that when killing another species.
To provide the context of dhabiha, the animal must be treated with care and must be healthy, fed, watered and in good condition. When slaughtering, the knife must be sharp and the cutting must be done quickly and effectively to ensure that the animal does not suffer. Animals are not allowed to see the knife and other animals are not allowed to see the slaughter or carcass. Also important to note is that the blood is removed from the animal leading to a cleaner and healthier product.
For the second Eid al-Fitr celebration, animal slaughter is compulsory for Muslims who can. The slaughtered animals should be distributed among the families and the poor. Look, I don’t expect to slaughter, but I like to eat meat and I like to help the poor.
This religious ceremony is far from tracking, harming, chasing and finally killing wild animals in the bush.
So why do people hunt?
There is a difference between trophy hunting and sport hunting according to Gum Log Plantation, a group that organizes hunting tours for animals like wild boar in the US. Hunting purely for sport is usually done as a way for individuals or groups to test their courage against nature and wildlife to kill animals for their meat.
Trophy hunting is a form of sport hunting, with the important difference that the prey is a rare and endangered species, with the goal being a head or skin as a trophy – an achievement for hunting animals. The meat is generally taken by hunters to braai, distributed to families or communities living in the hunting area, a group wrote for Huntshack. Furthermore, trophy hunting is very financially exclusive and only available to the wealthy.
Africa is known as the best place for hunting. Famous people like Ernest Hemingway, William Charles Baldwin, Bror von Blixen-Finecke and Theodore Roosevelt all enjoyed African hunting safaris, as Professor Peet van der Merwe of North-West University wrote in “From Hemingway to Blixen”.
Van der Merwe explains, based on the literature, there are four reasons why people participate in trophy hunting.
1. Adventure: There are great challenges in stalking and hunting species; it is really difficult and requires skill.
2. To hunt different species: Trophy hunting is all about collecting trophies, so having a variety of species is an indicator of your success.
3. To learn about nature: You need to know nature and wildlife and landscape to hunt successfully. You need to know about the species and the terrain where they live.
4. Socialization: Trophy hunters give you the opportunity to meet other hunters and join a community of like-minded people around the world.
Let’s look at that psychology. Geoff Beattie, Professor of Psychology at Edge Hill University, has some ideas. He notes that there is an evolutionary need from the past when our ancestors had to find food. Maybe you just need to never leave some people and have entrenched in their DNA.
He also theorizes that “dead prey is a visible display of skill and bravery and therefore increases the fitness status and sexual advantage of members of the ancestral hunting group (like peacock feathers)”. Can a trophy hunter get the same feeling?
In the article, Beattie notes how researchers have analyzed hunting stories to better understand how hunters feel after a kill.
“They found ‘achievement’ to be the most frequently reported, followed by ‘appreciation’ of animals (including ‘love’ for animals killed) and ‘affiliation’, a sense of belonging to a hunting community and the resulting strengthening of social bonds.”
Beattie also noted the dark psychological triad: sub-narcissism, sub-clinical psychopathy and Machiavellianism, or the ability to be manipulative and cunning.
Narcissists have an “inflated sense of self” and want attention. He manipulates social situations with carefully crafted social media posts of animals he has killed, and like all psychopaths, he has no empathy for the suffering of others like the animals he just killed. That trait is specific to people who kill and abuse animals. These studies are not specifically aimed at trophy hunters, so to make a link with the dark triad is tenuous and tangential in my view.
Some other reasons
I needed to know better, so I asked my friends who hunt often why. “It’s the closest you can get to nature”, was the first response I got from a family member. They are described as feeling one with the animals and the bush, you get to experience nature first-hand.
My relative to me you also get the feeling that this is etched into our DNA, as a person, being a hunter is something we have always done so that it is attached to our genetics.
Hunters also feel that the meat is organic in origin. After the animal is killed, it is cleaned, slaughtered and cured in front of them so that every step is followed. “It’s free-range, organic, clean and good quality,” he said.
My idea of hunting being a person standing from a distance and taking it is not true; Hunter track, stalk, chase and shoot with deadly precision so that the animal is killed quickly and does not suffer, I told.
The hunting relatives also told me that they donate a lot of meat to charity and feed a lot of people.
A final thought
Hunting is controversial, it always will be. There is an argument made by hunters that the funds generated from hunting help conservation, help tourism and ensure sustainable livelihoods for communities.
Dr Nkabeng Maruping-Mzileni, currently at SanParks, wrote this for Conversation. “Hunting can contribute to conservation efforts by facilitating the recovery of bontebok, black wildebeest, Cape mountain zebra and white rhinoceros. The money collected from hunting these species generates funds for breeding programs, reintroduction, protection and management.
Whatever my beliefs, I don’t think I can shoot animals that easily. I often think it’s better to let people be happy and watch them develop while staying on my own path.
The long-term impact of UK MPs approving a ban on trophy hunting imports should be carefully monitored. It will shed more light on whether trophy hunting is beneficial to animals and communities or harmful or both.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official policy or position Mail & Guardians.