Hunting facts for kids

Boar hunting, from a 14th-century book called Tacuinum Sanitatis

Hunting is when people go out to find and catch or kill wild animals. Animals, and even some humans, hunt mainly to get food. This is called predation. Hunting has been a part of human life for a very long time, going back to the Stone Age, which was thousands of years ago.

In the past, people used simple tools like spears to hunt. Today, hunters often use guns or bows and arrows. Sometimes, animals are hunted not just for food, but also for their fur to make clothes or shelter. Parts of animals might also be used to decorate homes or be sold. For some people, hunting, like fox hunting, is even a sport.

Why Do People Hunt?
- Hunting for Survival
- Hunting as a Sport
Hunting Through History
- Ancient Hunting Methods
- Modern Hunting Practices
Hunting Rules and Impact
- The Good and Bad of Hunting
  - Positive Impacts
  - Negative Impacts
Other articles
Images for kids
See also

Why Do People Hunt?

People hunt for different reasons. The most common reason is to get food. Many animals provide meat that people eat. Hunting also helps manage animal populations. If there are too many animals of one kind in an area, they might eat too much food or spread diseases. Hunters can help keep the number of animals balanced.

Hunting for Survival

For many thousands of years, hunting was a main way for humans to survive. Early humans hunted large animals like mammoths and deer. They used every part of the animal. The meat was food, the skins were used for clothes and tents, and bones were made into tools. This was especially important in places where farming was not possible.

Hunting as a Sport

Today, some people hunt for sport or recreation. This often involves following rules and seasons set by governments. Hunters might try to catch a specific type of animal, like deer or ducks. They often use special gear and techniques. After the hunt, some hunters keep parts of the animal as trophies or for their meat.

Hunting Through History

Hunting has changed a lot over time. In the Stone Age, people were hunter-gatherers. This means they hunted animals and gathered plants for their food. They used simple tools made from stone, wood, and bone.

Ancient Hunting Methods

As civilizations grew, hunting became more organized. Ancient Egyptians hunted animals like hippos and crocodiles. The Romans enjoyed hunting boar and deer. In many ancient cultures, hunting was also a way to train for warfare. People developed new tools like nets, traps, and even trained animals like falcons and dogs to help them hunt.

Modern Hunting Practices

In modern times, hunting is often regulated. Governments set rules about which animals can be hunted, when, and how. This is to protect animal populations and ensure fair hunting practices. Hunters need special licenses and must follow safety rules. Technology has also changed hunting, with better firearms, bows, and tracking equipment.

Hunting Rules and Impact

Many countries have strict rules about hunting. These rules are important for several reasons:

Protecting Animals: Rules help make sure that too many animals are not killed. This prevents species from becoming extinct. For example, the dodo bird became extinct partly because of too much hunting.
Safety: Hunting rules also focus on safety for hunters and others in the area.
Fair Chase: Rules ensure that hunting is done in a fair way, respecting the animals.

The Good and Bad of Hunting

Hunting can have both good and bad effects.

Positive Impacts

Population Control: As mentioned, hunting can help control the number of certain animals. This stops them from overpopulating an area and damaging the environment or spreading disease.
Conservation Funding: Money from hunting licenses and permits often goes towards wildlife conservation efforts. This helps protect habitats and other animals.

Negative Impacts

Extinction Risk: If hunting is not controlled, it can lead to animals becoming extinct. This means there are no more of that animal left anywhere in the world.
Animal Welfare: Some people believe hunting is cruel to animals. They argue that animals should not be killed for sport or pleasure.

Images for kids

Hunter on a tree or a ground stand during a driven hunt in Finland
Bushmen hunter in Botswana
Bowhunter in Utah, US
Professional deerstalker standing over a downed red stag in Scotland
Hunter carrying a reindeer in Greenland
Saharan rock art with prehistoric archers
Inuit hunting walrus, 1999
Sharp flint piece from Bjerlev Hede in central Jutland. Dated around 12,500 BC and considered the oldest hunting tool from Denmark
Ancient Greek black-figure pottery depicting the return of a hunter and his dog; made in Athens c. 540 BC, found in Rhodes
Artemis with a Hind, a Roman copy of an Ancient Greek sculpture, c. 325 BC, by Leochares
An example of a Goguryeo tomb mural of hunting, middle of the first millennium
Nobleman in hunting costume with his servant following the scent of a stag, 14th century
Hunting Companions, Dutch 19th-century painting featuring two dogs, a shotgun and a game bag
Mughal aristocrats hunting a blackbuck alongside an Asiatic cheetah, 1812
A group of Sikhs hunting (Unknown Pahari artist, 18th century)
A tiger hunt at Jhajjar, Rohtak District, Punjab, c. 1820
Ladies hunting in the 15th century
Tapestry with a hunting scene, late 16th century
Explorer and big game hunter Samuel Baker chased by an elephant, illustration from 1890
Weeks Edwin's painting Departure for the Hunt, c. 1885
A Shikar party in Mandalay, Burma, soon after the conclusion of the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1886, when Burma was annexed to British India
Snowden Slights with retriever and shotgun around 1910, 'the last of Yorkshire's Wildfowlers'
Hunting camp with dressed deer at Schoodic Lake, Maine, in 1905
A man target practicing for the hunting seasons
The coypu is hunted as a pest in Louisiana.
Riders gather for a dingo drive in Morven, Queensland, 1936
American bison being chased off a cliff as seen and painted by Alfred Jacob Miller, c. 1860
Master or whipper-in and fox hounds drawing a wood. Hunting in Yorkshire, northern England, in 2005, on the last day of fully legal, proper, fox hunting.
Trophy collection of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein at Úsov Château, the Czech Republic
Chatelherault, built by William Adam in 1743 as the Duke of Hamilton's hunting lodge
Marshal's Cabin, a former hunting lodge in Loppi, Finland
Right: .40 S&W round with hollow-point bullet, Left: expanded bullet of the same calibre with exposed lead core
Cage trap (live trap) for cheetahs on a farm in Namibia
Gustave Courbet, La Curée, chasse au chevreuil dans les forêts du Grand Jura (The Quarry, deer hunt in the woods of the Grand Jura)^[fr], 1857
Albert Gleizes, La Chasse (The Hunt), 1911, oil on canvas depicting a scene in the Cubist style of hunting by horseback in France
Hunting of deer and ibex, Minoan larnax, prepalatial period
Hunting in the papyrus thicket, mural from a tomb in Thebes, Egypt, before 1350 BC
Man hunting a boar, Roman mosaic, 4th century AD
Illustration from the falconry book De arte venandi cum avibus written by Emperor Frederick II, c. 1245
Giovanni di Francesco (?), La caccia, c. 1455, tempera on wood, detail
Paolo Uccello, Caccia notturna (The Hunt in the Forest), c. 1475
Vittore Carpaccio, Caccia in laguna (Hunt in the Lagoon), c. 1490
Lucas Cranach the Elder, A Stag Hunt with the Elector Friedrich the Wise, 1529
Peter Paul Rubens, Hippopotamus and Crocodile Hunt, c. 1615
Peter Paul Rubens, Tiger and Lion Hunt, 1618
Peter Paul Rubens, A Forest at Dawn with a Deer Hunt, c. 1635
Charles André van Loo, Halte de chasse (Halt During the Hunt), 1737
Francisco Goya, The Quail Shoot, 1775
Gustave Courbet, Biche morte (Dead hind), 1857
Gustave Courbet, The Hunt Breakfast, 1858
Eugène Delacroix, Chasse au lion (Lion Hunt), 1858
Gustave Courbet, Après la chasse (After the Hunt), 1859
Édouard Manet, Portrait de M. Pertuiset, le chasseur de lions (Mister Pertuiset, The Lion Hunter)^[fr], 1881