A view to a (staged) kill? The perception of game bird shooting among different Danish stakeholders: hunters, landowners and the general public

TY - GEN

T1 - A view to a (staged) kill?

T2 - 12th Congress of the European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics

AU - Gamborg, Christian

AU - Jensen, Frank Søndergaard

AU - Sandøe, Peter

N1 - Conference code: 12

PY - 2015/1/1

Y1 - 2015/1/1

N2 - Is it acceptable, in principle, to shoot wild animals as a sport? The ethical controversy around recreational hunting is not only of academic interest but plays an important role in public and political discussions concerning the legitimacy of hunting. For the hunter, hunting is typically imbued with a perception of deeper meaning. For ardent non-hunters it may be hard to understand the meaning of enjoying nature by shooting at other living beings. This lack of mutual understanding makes it difficult to create a dialogue. However, the issue is not just about whether or not to accept hunting but also the specific forms of hunting. The aim of the paper is to explore the attitudes at stake in debates about a controversial form of hunting: shooting of birds that are farm reared and subsequently released for the purpose of being hunted. The paper is based on a nationally representative survey (web-based questionnaires) of different Danish stakeholders. Results show that a majority of the general public is primarily against the practice; a majority of hunters are pro, and landowners somewhere in between. Reasons may be found in relation to views on wildlife, naturalness and what constitutes ‘proper’ hunting. Moreover, differences in expression of one’s fundamental values toward wildlife may help to explain differences found in views. This type of recreational hunting challenges traditional hunting/anti-hunting arguments, such as hunting being acceptable when based on sustained yield ‘harvest’ principles, and raises a discussion about the ethical acceptability of providing food from ‘the wild’.

AB - Is it acceptable, in principle, to shoot wild animals as a sport? The ethical controversy around recreational hunting is not only of academic interest but plays an important role in public and political discussions concerning the legitimacy of hunting. For the hunter, hunting is typically imbued with a perception of deeper meaning. For ardent non-hunters it may be hard to understand the meaning of enjoying nature by shooting at other living beings. This lack of mutual understanding makes it difficult to create a dialogue. However, the issue is not just about whether or not to accept hunting but also the specific forms of hunting. The aim of the paper is to explore the attitudes at stake in debates about a controversial form of hunting: shooting of birds that are farm reared and subsequently released for the purpose of being hunted. The paper is based on a nationally representative survey (web-based questionnaires) of different Danish stakeholders. Results show that a majority of the general public is primarily against the practice; a majority of hunters are pro, and landowners somewhere in between. Reasons may be found in relation to views on wildlife, naturalness and what constitutes ‘proper’ hunting. Moreover, differences in expression of one’s fundamental values toward wildlife may help to explain differences found in views. This type of recreational hunting challenges traditional hunting/anti-hunting arguments, such as hunting being acceptable when based on sustained yield ‘harvest’ principles, and raises a discussion about the ethical acceptability of providing food from ‘the wild’.

U2 - 10.3920/978-90-8686-813-1_30

DO - 10.3920/978-90-8686-813-1_30

M3 - Article in proceedings

SN - 978-90-8686-264-1

VL - 1

SP - 207

EP - 212

BT - Know your food

A2 - Dumitras, Diana Elena

A2 - Mugurel Jitea, Ionel

A2 - Aerts, Stef

PB - Wageningen Academic Publishers

CY - Wageningen

Y2 - 28 May 2015 through 30 May 2015

ER -