Residents weigh in on anger around hunting supplement
NELSPRUIT – A social media debate ensued on Lowvelder‘s Facebook page, after the paper featured a hunting supplement in the July 26 edition. Ian McDonald posted a message on the page that read: “I am disgusted by Lowvelder‘s support of hunting with their report in today’s edition. The exposure you give to this horrible activity, …
NELSPRUIT – A social media debate ensued on Lowvelder‘s Facebook page, after the paper featured a hunting supplement in the July 26 edition.
Ian McDonald posted a message on the page that read: “I am disgusted by Lowvelder‘s support of hunting with their report in today’s edition. The exposure you give to this horrible activity, as well as sickening pictures of hunted animals, is not in good taste and Lowvelder should apologise to readers for placing this article!”
This post sparked a heated debate between residents opposed to, and supporting the hunting trade.
Lowvelder asked shoppers at Absa Square how they felt about the hunting trade in our community.
Readers who preferred to stay anonymous due to the intensity of the debate, said that the hunting industry contributed to both the breeding of animals, as well as controlling their numbers. “If you think about the bontebok (or pied antelope), it had nearly become extinct a couple of decades ago. Had it not been for the breeding of bontebok by game farmers, there numbers would not be so substantial today. One can only imagine what would happen to buffalo numbers if there was no hunting,” one reader said.
“Luckily for us, our constitution states that we are allowed to decide for ourselves whether we are for hunting or against it. And as long as hunting is done ethically, the constitution has no problem with it,” another added.
We are not hunters, but we believe that if a farm has been cleared for the sole purpose of hunting, charges the hunter a tariff and the hunt takes place within the hunting season, there is nothing wrong with it.
It all comes down to how it is managed. As long as the trade is done to ensure a natural, biological, sustainable balance, its acceptable. Of course, there are people that exploit nature for their own gain and that is not right.
We work and live in such stressful environments, I find hunting to be relaxing.
I believe that it is a good trade and that we should continue to go back to our roots. Our forefathers were nomadic, they moved to wherever they could find food. Look at the state of our civilisations today – we should learn from our predescessors.
I am absolutely 100% against hunting, but I support the conservation trade, like the Kruger National Park. I believe we should protect our animals, not hunt them.
My father-in-law owns a game farm. Most game farms do not have predatory animals such as lion and leopard, and therefore game can overpopulate the farm. In doing so, there would not be enough grazing ground and grass/leaves for the animals to feed on. We have to keep their numbers in check.
Trophy hunting is a big no-no – surely you wouldn’t kill a cow just to mount its head on your wall? If you just look at the plight of rhino today, we should be focused more on conservation of our animals. If a person hunts to provide meat for the table though, it is understandable.
I hunt for the table, so to speak, but I don’t like hunting as a sport at all.
