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Earth

Should we legalise hunting of endangered species?

By Andy Coghlan

17 September 2008

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

TO MANY wildlife enthusiasts it will smack of heresy. A controversial plan put forward this week argues that to save species from extinction, the hunting of endangered animals for bushmeat should not be banned. Instead, the authors argue that the best way to reduce the slaughter is for hunting to be legalised and regulated, so that local communities rather than governments take charge of managing resources.

Around 1000 terrestrial species are hunted for food, according to the report from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), a non-profit research institution. In central Africa, 1 million tonnes of bushmeat are harvested…

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