Hunting, Ecology, and Ecotourism

I bet when you hear the word, ecotourism, hunting isn’t the first thing to spring to mind, is it? Most likely, it doesn’t even enter into your mind. Some people, though, want to change that, by making a push to label sustainable hunting trips as a form of ecotourism.
To make sure we have a clear picture here, we need to take a look at eco and what it means. Eco-, a prefix, refers to ecology or the environment (in an ecological sense). Ecology is the branch of biology dealing with the relationships of organisms with their environment and with each other. Got that? Good, then let’s move on.
Wildlife management is an ecological study, and is the basis of wildlife agencies around the world managing our wildlife. Now, consider it as a toolbox, inside it being the individual tools necessary to do the actual work. There are specific tools utilized when working with specific areas, like food, habitat, and population numbers. And hunting is one of the best, and usually one of the primary, tools used in controlling population, which, in turn, has a direct relationship with all the other areas.
Now, most people into eco activities realize that we are a part of the ecology of the planet. The problem is the fact that they don’t like to acknowledge that by being a part of it, they are still in the food chain, and that means either hunting or being hunted. So, taking humans out of the equation is going against the very nature of ecology.
In my next post, we’ll continue on from here, looking at sustainable hunting and the benefits it has on the environment and the wildlife.
hunting, hunting sense, hunters, ecology, eco, ecotourism, wildlife management, sustainable hunting

October 13th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
This is a little different take than what I have seen on this topic on other blogs. I’m looking forward to the next post.
October 15th, 2007 at 8:42 am
This is interesting. I did a post about this last week, but didn’t go into as much depth as you have. It will be interesting to see what you have to say next.
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