‘Beginning Of The End’ For Hunting And Fishing

by ANC Staff

Fund for Animals, a national animal protection group, celebrated National Hunting and Fishing Day on Saturday, September 27, as the ‘beginning of the end’ of killing animals for sport.

A recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) report showed that the number of hunters in the U.S. declined by 7% between 1996 and 2001.

During the same five years, the number of wildlife watchers, people who enjoy wildlife without harming them, increased by 5%.

This latest in a series of reports issued every five years documents a continuing trend. According to the USFWS, in 1985 there were 16.7 million hunters in the U.S, while in 2001 there were only 13 million, a decline of 22% over fifteen years.

Since 1989, the number of animals killed every year by hunters has fallen by 42 percent.

This led Heidi Prescott, national director of The Fund for Animals, to comment that, "These are long-term trends, not just a blip in the numbers, and we’re delighted to see that more and more people are trading their guns for cameras."

"Over a decade ago, experts on hunting demographics predicted that by 2050, sport hunting could well cease to exist. This latest report shows that they were right on target," Prescott remarked.

"The end of hunting is no more than a generation away, and we look forward to the day when animals are shot only with cameras, not with lethal weapons," she concluded.

The USFWS results showed the largest declines in "small game" (22%) and "other animal" hunting (31%).

"The decline is taking place primarily among hunters of small game," said Norm Phelps, author of the report Body Count: The Death Toll in America’s War on Wildlife.

"Since they kill many more animals than big game hunters, we can expect the total number of hunting victims to decline as well," Phelps said.

Michael Markarian, president of The Fund, noted that, "Hunters now make up only 4.6% of the population, compared to the 31% who are wildlife watchers.

It’s time for the Fish and Wildlife Service and state wildlife agencies to start paying attention to their own numbers and stop catering to a tiny special interest group."

"Wildlife belongs to everyone, not just the few people who hunt," Markarian added.

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.