The impact of sport hunting: a case study

Synopsis

The significance of sport hunting, as a source of rural revenue and infrastructure, a means of wildlife management and a catalyst for conservation, is often debated and less often quantified. A major difficulty in any such evaluation lies in comparing the different, often non-convertible currencies in which different factors may be measured. Such problems are at the root of many conservation dilemmas world-wide. As an example this chapter presents an analysis of some of the factors relevant to the functioning of hunting foxes with hounds in the UK. Although it has welfare implications, this example is not in itself a major conservation issue in terms of preservation of biodiversity, but it serves to illustrate in microcosm many recurrent issues in debates about wildlife. The results of a questionnaire survey of farmers (as users of, hosts to and participants in foxhunting) are presented along with data on the performance (e.g. annual tallies) of packs of hounds. These data are explored in terms of regional differences, and assessed in the context of conservation in the agro-ecosystem and in terms of fox population dynamics. The main aim is to disentangle and, where possible, to make a start at quantifying the threads of what has hitherto often been a muddled debate.