The argument usually goes something like "the money these trophy hunters pay to hunt the animal pays for the conservation of x numbers of other animals"
The problem is that it's kind of misguided. I don't honestly know how much of the money goes to the actual conservation of the animals, but it probably varies depending on the government that provides the license. However, this means that there's not so much of an incentive to protect the environment as there is to increase the number of game animals. If your sole aim is to increase the number of lions, great! if your aim is a to create a balanced, healthy ecosystem, perhaps not so much.
Again, I don't know of any specific wildlife preserves in Africa where this is a problem, but deer parks in Britain are largely devoid of ground flora because the number of deer is artificially high and there are no natural predators. It can also lead to food shortages for the animals, which leads to a large, yet unhealthy population.
Not to mention, what if people stop buying the hunting licences? They probably never will, but what if they do? Then where is the money going to come from?
The argument usually goes something like "the money these trophy hunters pay to hunt the animal pays for the conservation of x numbers of other animals"
This.
The problem is that it's kind of misguided. I don't honestly know how much of the money goes to the actual conservation of the animals, but it probably varies depending on the government that provides the license. However, this means that there's not so much of an incentive to protect the environment as there is to increase the number of game animals. If your sole aim is to increase the number of lions, great! if your aim is a to create a balanced, healthy ecosystem, perhaps not so much.
Again, I don't know of any specific wildlife preserves in Africa where this is a problem, but deer parks in Britain are largely devoid of ground flora because the number of deer is artificially high and there are no natural predators. It can also lead to food shortages for the animals, which leads to a large, yet unhealthy population.
Not to mention, what if people stop buying the hunting licences? They probably never will, but what if they do? Then where is the money going to come from?