(November 22, 2017 at 11:43 pm)Hammy Wrote: If trophy hunting elephants is a way to help conserve the elephant species, then let the species die naturally.
I'm never impressed by an Appeal To Quantity when we're talking about the lives of individuals.
Anyways, I'm off to bed now. Goodnight everyone.
Goodnight, Hammy!
In regards to your post, I don't think that the species IS dying naturally. The demand for ivory is what caused them to be targeted by poachers, thus leading to our current situation. I agree with you that the Appeal to Quantity fails, but for another reason than the one you give.
Elephants used to have very large tusks. But this is not quite as common anymore because of poaching. Through the imposition of artificial selection, we have made small tusks the favorable gene to the elephants: the elephants with small tusks were passed over by poachers and thus THEY were allowed to survive and produce offspring. In the end, if we allow limited hunting, it may help the species survive but the proud elephant will be a shadow of its former self.
I'm not opposed to trophy hunting, per se. I don't personally hunt, but the collecting of trophies may be a part of the human being's tribal psyche. But in this case, by allowing hunting of any kind, we are destroying yet another of nature's magnificent gifts.
(Sorry if I repeated anything that has already been said, long thread).
