Hunting or Trapping

This article describes the International Elephant Foundation's efforts to protect and conserve the African and Asian Elephants. The African Elephant population has fallen from 1.6 million to fewer than 500,000 in the past 25 years, while Asian Elephants are ten times more endangered than their African counterparts.

The European Union is considering possible measures against Canada to protest the annual seal hunt off its Atlantic coast, which could potentially include a ban on products derived from Canadian seals.

This survey by the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department assesses residents' attitudes toward various wildlife species including deer, black bear, moose, wild turkeys, and others. Also, the frequency of human-wildlife conflicts and residents' attitudes toward them are also examined within the scope of this study by Responsive Management.

The United Kingdom-based organization "Support Fox Hunting" compiled a list of public opinion polls on hunting and concluded that these surveys show that support for a ban on fox hunting has been decreasing since 1997.

Although hunting -- and consequently state revenue associated with hunting activities -- is on the decline across the United States, many states are trying to booster interest in hunting by attracting new and younger people through various mechanisms.

Commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund in 2006, this study investigated public opinion in ten Pacific and Caribbean countries to measure opinions about commercial whaling. The issues investigated included awareness of the International Whaling Commission, whether or not countries should vote for a return to commercial whaling (defined as votes for proposals to establish commercial quotas), and support for votes in the past to return to commercial whaling.

The majority of British Columbians believe that black bear hunting should be allowed to continue, when presented with common arguments used by hunters. Respondents to this study were given a skewed explanation of the regulations by which hunters are expected to abide.

More than two-thirds (70%) of Japanese people do not support their country's whaling in the Southern Ocean, according to this Greenpeace survey.

According to this survey by WildAid and the Social Survey Institute Of China, Chinese consumers have little understanding of the negative environmental impacts of shark losses, while public support for shark conservation is mounting. The survey also produced in-depth information on the status of shark fin consumption, and identified public attitudes toward shark conservation in China.

Estimates show that about 11,600 tons of illegal bush meat were smuggled into Britain during 2003, mostly through luggage. The number of seizures of such illegal imports has more than doubled from 7,819 tons in the year ending April 2003 to 15,838 tons for the year ending April 2004. However, that represents less than 1% of the government's estimate of the illegal meat trade.