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Molly Phillips
ENGL 102
Adam Padgett
22 November 2016
Hunting or Hurting? An Essay on Environmental Impacts of Hunting

Commented [C1]: Not a bad title, add the colon

Since the dawn of time man has been hunting and using animals as a natural resource, but
recently hunting animals has shown an impact on the environment. Some affected areas include
animal population and behavior, and surrounding vegetation. While hunting serves as a food
source for many, modern day hunting tactics cause stress on the environment. Although various
types of hunting can have certain positive environmental impacts, it is undisputed, however, that
hunting causes negative consequences burdened upon the environment. These include: negative

Commented [C2]: Thesis Im guessing

animal behavioral patterns, indirect vegetation decline, and lead contamination in wetlands.
Hunting has direct consequences on the environment, but it also possesses indirect
impacts as well. Vegetation is one of the many different ecological factors affected by other

Commented [MP3]: Sounds weird, possibly reword

biotic elements in an ecosystem. One biotic factor affecting vegetation is animals and their eating
habits which can change drastically due to hunting. A study led by Soizic Le Saout for the
Canadian Journal of Zoology observed behavioral patterns from hunted black-tail deer and their
effects on four types of vegetation. Researchers focused on four plant species consumed by the
black-tail deer: nootka reedgrass, red fescue, red huckleberry, and sitka spruce. All four spieces
were monitored in two locations, the first, a control area, without hunting and the second with
hunting. The results were specific to the species of plants. Both the nootka reedgrass and sitka
spruce grew in the control area, but suffered a decline in the experimental area with hunting. The
red fescue declined in both the control area and the experimental area. However, the red

Commented [MP4]: Maybe change syntax

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huckleberry declined in the control area yet increased in the experimental area. Le Saout writes,
We interpret this cascading impact of hunting on plants as being behaviorally
mediatedthrough an increase in deer vigilance levels, with negative effect[s] on foraging rates,
in areas of increased predation risk (Le Saout, 923). The black-tailed deer within the
experimental area with hunting developed different behaviors, thus indirectly affecting
vegetation.
It is obvious hunting does not indirectly affect all vegetation, however, it is a cause for
decline in certain species as exemplified in Le Saouts study. This is a negative consequence,
although indirect, of hunting. Biotic factors in an ecosystem are intertwined and when one
becomes abnormal it can cause a ripple effect. For instance, the vegetation decline can lead to
different animals devouring different food sources. The ecosystem is no longer at equilibrium
and it is because of hunting.
The process of evolution is associated with forward progress and betterment of the
species. However, hunting has caused multiple species to evolve with lesser qualities. Michael
Le Page, author of Unnatural Selection, explains how hunters are the cause of multiple species
losing their well-known traits. He writes, Most predators target the young or the weak. We are
different, targeting the biggest and bestCombine this with our ability to kill in great number
and the result is extremely rapid evolution of our prey. It is not just one species suffering the
effect of this twisted evolution. For example, caribou have decreased in size and big horn sheep
in Canada have smaller horns. Male elephants have evolved to have smaller tusks or no tusks at
all due to overhunting (Le Page). The negative ramifications of hunting affect more than just
current animals, they affect the future for entire species.

Commented [C5]: Cite in text

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Another impact hunting produced by hunting is abnormal animal behavior. As seen in Le
Saouts research, animal behavior is an important factor in achieving an ecosystems
equilibrium. An experiment led by Gitte Jensen explored how hunting directly affects animal
behavior. In Denmark Jensen and other researchers observed three separate regions that were
frequented by geese exposed to hunting. The number of geese harvested was collected as data to
show hunter frequency in each region, while food resources for the geese were also observed.
Researchers found that geese flee their normal feeding grounds due to excessive hunting. Jensen
writes, Collectively, our results suggest that geese depart from mid-Norway due to disturbance
caused by too intensive goose hunting (Jensen, 192). Hunting is forcing geese and other animals
to evacuate their normal feeding grounds to survive.
As animals flee their feeding grounds in search of safety, competition with other animals
increases. While competition is vital in an ecosystem, over-competition can result in depleted
resources. Jensen says geese, in particular, will not empty all available resources but they can
cause one species to struggle for resources need to survive. The environment and its ecosystems
are balanced. Hunting disturbs the natural order of the environment and causes a ripple effect.
Because of hunting geese and other animals are forced to struggle for resources which were once
plentiful.

Good title, you do not have your inquiry question in there, but you do have a thesis. You
have some in text citation but you will need more. You also need to do a works cited, but thats
obvious. You have a clear stance that hunting is negative, which is obvious in your paper. Your
kind of offer multiple points of view on the issue, but maybe I am wrong. There is some

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synthesis. I think the 2 that I highlighted are decent examples. You have a clear progression of
ideas ans should keep in up in the rest of the paper. Maybe find a way to include your own ideas
a little more.