By Nitya Krishna
When asking someone who the most unredeemable Disney villain is, one can expect a variety of answers. Disney’s array of deliciously evil, queer-coded villains is one that never fails to entertain, we love them because they are wrong. And then there is the hunter who kills Bambi’s mom. There is no Disney villain as loathed as him. Bambi’s frantic calls for his mother and the tears running down his face do not fail to tug at your heartstrings.
There are few professions as vilified as hunting. Vaguely sinister houses in fiction are not complete without mounted moose heads, taxidermied rodents, and tiger-skin rugs. But its sinister reputation is one that needs to be re-evaluated. Understanding the morality surrounding hunting requires knowledge and context from the words and the worlds that encompass it.
In its essence, hunting is tracking and killing wild animals for sport, trophies, and pleasure, but mostly for food. Hunting and gathering are thought to be the bedrock of early human survival. The idea of a community did not begin with farming but with people collecting together to hunt, heal, and take care of each other. The first tools and clothes were re-purposed from animal furs and bones, and those remnants were the first tools of civilization.
The practices of our nomadic ancestors are continued today by many indigenous communities across the world. The Irulas of the Nilgiri Hills harvest honey without damaging the brood and insect larvae, ensuring the survival of the bee population. The Baiga people of Madya Pradesh hunt prey, like rabbits, and share their spoils with their entire community. The reputation of hunting as a barbaric and brutal practice creates an incorrect and condescending view of these already marginalized communities.
The accusations lobbied against hunting are not baseless. It does involve the killing of animals, and in large quantities, it can harm the biodiversity of a region. However, those only apply when looking at hunting in isolation. According to the Global Forest Watch, India has lost 393 kilo hectares of forest from 2002-2022.
This drastic loss of habitat- for urban growth, farming, plantations, pasture, and logging- is the leading cause of biodiversity loss, with 25 species going extinct for that very reason in 2021. These projects are undertaken on such a large scale by the country’s leading corporations and industries that surround natural resources. The barren land that is left behind, be it an empty field or a nutrient-less tea plantation, does not support most of the native wildlife. This is what kills them, in thousands, not relatively small communities looking for food and livelihood.
Sources:
Comments