Fair chase is a term used by hunters to describe an ethical approach to hunting big game animals . North America 's oldest wildlife conservation group, the Boone and Crockett Club , defines "fair chase" as requiring the targeted game animal to be wild and free-ranging. "Wild" refers to an animal that is naturally bred and lives freely in nature. "Free-ranging" means an animal that is not restrained by traps or artificial barriers, so it has a fair chance of successfully escaping from the hunt.
66-877: A huntsman is a hunter , especially a fox hunter . Huntsman or huntsmen or variation , may also refer to: Hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals . The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur / hide , bone / tusks , horn / antler , etc.), for recreation / taxidermy (see trophy hunting ), although it may also be done for resourceful reasons such as removing predators dangerous to humans or domestic animals (e.g. wolf hunting ), to eliminate pests and nuisance animals that damage crops / livestock / poultry or spread diseases (see varminting ), for trade/tourism (see safari ), or for ecological conservation against overpopulation and invasive species (commonly called
132-436: A chariot , had a function similar to tournaments and manly sports. Hunting ranked as an honourable, somewhat competitive pastime to help the aristocracy practice skills of war in times of peace. In most parts of medieval Europe, the upper class obtained the sole rights to hunt in certain areas of a feudal territory. Game in these areas was used as a source of food and furs, often provided via professional huntsmen, but it
198-501: A cull ). Recreationally hunted species are generally referred to as the game , and are usually mammals and birds . A person participating in a hunt is a hunter or (less commonly) huntsman ; a natural area used for hunting is called a game reserve ; and an experienced hunter who helps organise a hunt and/or manage the game reserve is also known as a gamekeeper . Hunting activities by humans arose in Homo erectus or earlier, in
264-484: A frugivorous diet. Indirect evidence for Oldowan era hunting, by early Homo or late Australopithecus , has been presented in a 2009 study based on an Oldowan site in southwestern Kenya. Louis Binford (1986) criticised the idea that early hominids and early humans were hunters. On the basis of the analysis of the skeletal remains of the consumed animals, he concluded that hominids and early humans were mostly scavengers , not hunters, Blumenschine (1986) proposed
330-544: A noun ("the act, the practice, or an instance of hunting") and a verb ("to pursue for food or in sport"). The noun has been dated to the early 12th century, from the verb hunt . Old English had huntung, huntoþ . The meaning of "a body of persons associated for the purpose of hunting with a pack of hounds" is first recorded in the 1570s. "The act of searching for someone or something" is from about 1600. The verb, Old English huntian "to chase game" ( transitive and intransitive ), perhaps developed from hunta "hunter,"
396-448: A bear was brought to bay by the hounds, and subsequently a small bear was caught and tied to a tree. When Roosevelt arrived at the scene he refused to shoot the defenseless animal. Being omitted from the chase was unsettling to Roosevelt, who prided himself in living the hardy life of an outdoorsman —the harder the hunt the better—and he did not earn this bear though a fair pursuit. Political cartoonist Clifford Berryman immediately drew
462-461: A cartoon depicting Roosevelt refusing to shoot the restrained bear. The story made national headlines and a shopkeeper, Morris Michtom in Brooklyn, New York, had his wife sew a stuffed bear to sell in his store. He wrote Roosevelt asking permission to call the child's toy "Teddy's Bear", and he consented. When in the field, the initial question for every fair chase hunter is whether the animal has
528-462: A caution against disrespect of prey or against impudent boasting. With the domestication of the dog, birds of prey , and the ferret , various forms of animal-aided hunting developed, including venery ( scent-hound hunting, such as fox hunting ), coursing ( sight-hound hunting), falconry , and ferreting . While these are all associated with medieval hunting , over time, various dog breeds were selected by humans for very precise tasks during
594-575: A distinctive way of hunting was popularized by the US author Ernest Hemingway and President Theodore Roosevelt . A safari may consist of a several-days—or even weeks-long journey, with camping in the bush or jungle , while pursuing big game . Nowadays, it is often used to describe hunting tours through African wildlife. Hunters are usually tourists, accompanied by licensed and highly regulated professional hunters, local guides, skinners , and porters in more difficult terrains. A special safari type
660-454: A hunt; the rituals done may vary according to the species hunted or the season the hunt is taking place. Often a hunting ground, or the hunt for one or more species, was reserved or prohibited in the context of a temple cult. In Roman religion, Diana is the goddess of the hunt. Hindu scriptures describe hunting as an occupation, as well as a sport of the kingly. Even figures considered divine are described to have engaged in hunting. One of
726-476: A master of the hunt, who might be styled mir-shikar . Often, they recruited the normally low-ranking local tribes because of their traditional knowledge of the environment and hunting techniques. Big game, such as Bengal tigers , might be hunted from the back of an Indian elephant . Regional social norms are generally antagonistic to hunting, while a few sects , such as the Bishnoi , lay special emphasis on
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#1732772162591792-519: A means of population control . Hunting advocates state that regulated hunting can be a necessary component of modern wildlife management , for example to help maintain a healthy proportion of animal populations within an environment's ecological carrying capacity when natural checks such as natural predators are absent or insufficient, or to provide funding for breeding programs and maintenance of natural reserves and conservation parks . However, excessive hunting has also heavily contributed to
858-459: A reasonable opportunity to elude the hunter. If the animal does not, the hunt can never be "fair chase". For example, a fair chase hunter does not shoot an animal hampered by deep snow or entangled in a barbed-wire fence. There are also laws that regulate hunting. Ethical, fair chase hunting therefore begins with obeying game laws. A fair chase hunter must acquaint themselves with the laws that govern hunting, as they reflect considerations for safety,
924-579: A running deer is not illegal, nor are there any laws regarding shooting at extremely long ranges with a firearm or bow. To those who believe in the responsibility to kill quickly and cleanly, taking such risky shots would be unethical. A large part of the time-honored tradition of hunting has to do with the fact that sportsmen police themselves and others both within and beyond the rule of law. "Canned shoots", also known as " canned hunting ", may be legal in some North American states and provinces, but they are not representative of fair chase. Canned shoots involve
990-547: A subsistence activity to a selective one, two trends emerged: The meaning of the word game in Middle English evolved to include an animal which is hunted. As the domestication of animals for meat grew, subsistence hunting remained among the lowest classes; however, the stylised pursuit of game in European societies became a luxury. Dangerous hunting, such as for lions or wild boars , often done on horseback or from
1056-464: Is carried out on foot without hounds, using stealth. Fair chase Fair chase has been the honor code of North American hunters for over a century and the principle underlying many hunting laws , and is taught to new hunters in hunter certification courses. Fair Chase is also a registered trademark of the Boone and Crockett Club . The concept and the popularization of the term "fair chase"
1122-464: Is credited to Theodore Roosevelt and perpetuated by the Boone and Crockett Club, a conservation organization of Roosevelt's creation. Ethics, or a code of conduct, in hunting first emerged centuries ago among European hunters who were primarily the wealthy landowners and royalty. While the commoner hunted to stay alive, the aristocrat hunted for sport , and it was this sporting approach that separated
1188-428: Is illicit, and canonists generally make a distinction declaring noisy ( clamorosa ) hunting unlawful, but not quiet ( quieta ) hunting. Ferraris gives it as the general sense of canonists that hunting is allowed to clerics if it be indulged in rarely and for sufficient cause, as necessity, utility or "honest" recreation, and with that moderation which is becoming to the ecclesiastical state. Ziegler, however, thinks that
1254-402: Is more conformable to the ecclesiastical law . In practice, therefore, the synodal statutes of various localities must be consulted to discover whether they allow quiet hunting or prohibit it altogether. Small-scale hunting as a family or subsistence farming activity is recognised by Pope Francis in his encyclical letter, Laudato si' , as a legitimate and valuable aspect of employment within
1320-407: Is permitted. The Sikh gurus , especially Guru Hargobind and Guru Gobind Singh were ardent hunters. Many old Sikh Rehatnamas like Prem Sumarag , recommend hunting wild boar and deer . However, among modern Sikhs, the practice of hunting has died down; some even saying that all meat is forbidden. From early Christian times, hunting has been forbidden to Roman Catholic Church clerics . Thus
1386-408: Is related to hentan "to seize," from Proto-Germanic huntojan (the source also of Gothic hinþan "to seize, capture," Old High German hunda "booty"), which is of uncertain origin. The general sense of "search diligently" (for anything) is first recorded c. 1200. Hunting has a long history. It predates the emergence of Homo sapiens ( anatomically modern humans ) and may even predate
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#17327721625911452-471: Is represented by deities such as the horned god Cernunnos and lunar goddesses of classical antiquity , the Greek Artemis or Roman Diana . Taboos are often related to hunting, and mythological association of prey species with a divinity could be reflected in hunting restrictions such as a reserve surrounding a temple. Euripides ' tale of Artemis and Actaeon , for example, may be seen as
1518-544: Is still called so. The practices of netting or trapping insects and other arthropods for trophy collection , or the foraging or gathering of plants and mushrooms , are also not regarded as hunting. Skillful tracking and acquisition of an elusive target has caused the word hunt to be used in the vernacular as a metaphor for searching and obtaining something, as in " treasure hunting ", " bargain hunting", " hunting for votes " and even " hunting down " corruption and waste . The word hunt serves as both
1584-446: Is the chasing of hares with hounds . Pairs of sighthounds (or long-dogs), such as greyhounds , may be used to pursue a hare in coursing, where the greyhounds are marked as to their skill in coursing the hare (but are not intended to actually catch it), or the hare may be pursued with scent hounds such as beagles or harriers. Other sorts of foxhounds may also be used for hunting stags (deer) or mink . Deer stalking with rifles
1650-518: Is the solo-safari, where all the license acquiring, stalking, preparation, and outfitting is done by the hunter himself. During the feudal and colonial times in British India , hunting or shikar was regarded as a regal sport in the numerous princely states , as many maharajas and nawabs , as well as British officers, maintained a whole corps of shikari s ( big-game hunters ), who were native professional hunters. They would be headed by
1716-715: The Corpus Juris Canonici (C. ii, X, De cleric. venat.) says, "We forbid to all servants of God hunting and expeditions through the woods with hounds; and we also forbid them to keep hawks or falcons." The Fourth Council of the Lateran , held under Pope Innocent III , decreed (canon xv): "We interdict hunting or hawking to all clerics." The decree of the Council of Trent is worded more mildly: "Let clerics abstain from illicit hunting and hawking" (Sess. XXIV, De reform., c. xii), which seems to imply that not all hunting
1782-546: The Arctic trap and hunt animals for clothing and use the skins of sea mammals to make kayaks , clothing, and footwear. On ancient reliefs , especially from Mesopotamia , kings are often depicted by sculptors as hunters of big game such as lions and are often portrayed hunting from a war chariot - early examples of royalty symbolically and militaristically engaging in hunting as "the sport of kings". The cultural and psychological importance of hunting in ancient societies
1848-642: The First World War . Unarmed fox hunting on horseback with hounds is the type of hunting most closely associated with the United Kingdom; in fact, "hunting" without qualification implies fox hunting. What in other countries is called "hunting" is called "shooting" (birds) or "stalking" (deer) in Britain. Fox hunting is a social activity for the upper classes, with roles strictly defined by wealth and status. Similar to fox hunting in many ways
1914-929: The Labrador Retriever , the Golden Retriever , the Chesapeake Bay Retriever , the Brittany Spaniel , and other similar breeds. Game birds are flushed out using flushing spaniels such as the English Springer Spaniel , the various Cocker Spaniels and similar breeds. The hunting of wild mammals in England and Wales with dogs was banned under the Hunting Act 2004 . The wild mammals include fox, hare, deer and mink. There are, however, exceptions in
1980-643: The University of Southern California , has suggested that the discovery of spear use by chimpanzees probably means that early humans used wooden spears as well, perhaps, five million years ago. The earliest dated find of surviving wooden hunting spears dates to the very end of the Lower Paleolithic , about 300,000 years ago. The Schöningen spears , found in 1976 in Germany , are associated with Homo heidelbergensis . The hunting hypothesis sees
2046-546: The control of fire , is emphasised in the so-called " hunting hypothesis " and de-emphasised in scenarios that stress omnivory and social interaction . There is no direct evidence for hunting predating Homo erectus , in either Homo habilis or in Australopithecus . The early hominid ancestors of humans were probably frugivores or omnivores , with a partially carnivorous diet from scavenging rather than hunting. Evidence for australopithecine meat consumption
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2112-553: The domestication of livestock and the dawn of agriculture , beginning about 11,000 years ago in some parts of the world. In addition to the spear , hunting weapons developed during the Upper Paleolithic include the atlatl (a spear-thrower; before 30,000 years ago) and the bow (18,000 years ago). By the Mesolithic , hunting strategies had diversified with the development of these more far-reaching weapons and
2178-564: The domestication of the dog about 15,000 years ago. Evidence puts the earliest known mammoth hunting in Asia with spears to approximately 16,200 years ago. Many species of animals have been hunted throughout history. One theory is that in North America and Eurasia , caribou and wild reindeer "may well be the species of single greatest importance in the entire anthropological literature on hunting" (see also Reindeer Age ), although
2244-551: The endangerment , extirpation and extinction of many animals. Some animal rights and anti-hunting activists regard hunting as a cruel , perverse and unnecessary blood sport . Certain hunting practices, such as canned hunts and ludicrously paid / bribed trophy tours (especially to poor countries), are considered unethical and exploitative even by some hunters. Marine mammals such as whales and pinnipeds are also targets of hunting, both recreationally and commercially, often with heated controversies regarding
2310-493: The genus Homo . The oldest undisputed evidence for hunting dates to the Early Pleistocene , consistent with the emergence and early dispersal of Homo erectus about 1.7 million years ago ( Acheulean ). While it is undisputed that Homo erectus were hunters, the importance of this for the emergence of Homo erectus from its australopithecine ancestors, including the production of stone tools and eventually
2376-494: The teddy bear has a close connection to fair chase. During his presidency in 1902, Roosevelt was in Mississippi to settle a border dispute. His hosts knew Roosevelt was an avid hunter and arranged for a black bear hunt for the president. In the thick brush swamps of Mississippi it was a common practice of the day to hunt bears with hounds. Out of concern for the president's safety, the guides insisted that he stay in camp until
2442-647: The "pursuit" and killing of a big game animal kept in or released from captivity to be shot in an artificial hunting situation where a kill is virtually guaranteed. When Internet hunting was introduced in 2005, allowing people to hunt over the Internet using remotely controlled guns, the practice was widely criticized by hunters as violating the principles of fair chase. A spokesperson of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) stated, "The NRA has always maintained that fair chase, being in
2508-456: The Act. Nevertheless, there have been numerous attempts on behalf of activists, pressure groups, etc. to revoke the act over the last two decades. Many prehistoric deities are depicted as predators or prey of humans, often in a zoomorphic form, perhaps alluding to the importance of hunting for most Palaeolithic cultures. In many pagan religions, specific rituals are conducted before or after
2574-492: The club. Later writings by club members Roosevelt, George Bird Grinnell , and Aldo Leopold articulated the term "fair chase" to the public through books and magazine articles. Most notable of these were the club's Acorn book series on hunting (1893 – 1933), Leopold's Sand County Almanac , and Grinnell's Forest and Stream magazine (now Field & Stream ). In 1893, Roosevelt wrote about hunting and fair chase in his book titled The Wilderness Hunter . The history of
2640-557: The conservation of particular species, such as the antelope . India's Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 bans the killing of all wild animals. However, the Chief Wildlife Warden may, if satisfied that any wild animal from a specified list has become dangerous to human life or is so disabled or diseased as to be beyond recovery, permit any person to hunt such an animal. In this case, the body of any wild animal killed or wounded becomes government property. The practice among
2706-422: The development of agriculture, hunting usually remained a significant contributor to the human food-supply. The supplementary meat and materials from hunting included protein , bone for implements, sinew for cordage , fur , feathers , rawhide and leather used in clothing. Hunting is still vital in marginal climates, especially those unsuited for pastoral uses or for agriculture. For example, Inuit in
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2772-490: The edge of it. In the early part of the 20th century, a sense of pride and accomplishment began to emerge among sportsmen that came with their newly accepted responsibility to conserve. Doing right by the game being hunted meant working with conservation and population recovery efforts, including the creation of the National Wildlife Refuge System . As for the hunt itself, using restraint shifted
2838-482: The emergence of behavioral modernity in the Middle Paleolithic as directly related to hunting, including mating behaviour , the establishment of language , culture, and religion , mythology and animal sacrifice . Sociologist David Nibert of Wittenberg University argues that the emergence of the organized hunting of animals undermined the communal, egalitarian nature of early human societies, with
2904-607: The emphasis of measuring success from the quantity of game taken to the quality of the chase. The hunting experience became more important than the number killed, and success was now more memorable because the hunting experience became sustainable in the long term. The earliest recorded North American usage of the term "fair chase" is in the fifth article of the Boone and Crockett Club constitution, adopted in February 1888. At this time in American history, there were no laws governing
2970-518: The food production system. Hunting is not forbidden in Jewish law , although there is an aversion to it. The great 18th-century authority Rabbi Yechezkel Landau after a study concluded although "hunting would not be considered cruelty to animals insofar as the animal is generally killed quickly and not tortured... There is an unseemly element in it, namely cruelty." The other issue is that hunting can be dangerous and Judaism places an extreme emphasis on
3036-557: The forest, Ravana kidnapped his wife, Sita , from their hut, while Rama was asked by Sita to capture a golden deer, and his brother Lakshman went after him. According to the Mahabharat , Pandu , the father of the Pandavas , accidentally killed the sage Kindama and his wife with an arrow, mistaking them for a deer. Jainism teaches followers to have tremendous respect for all of life. Prohibitions for hunting and meat eating are
3102-459: The fundamental conditions for being a Jain . Buddhism 's first precept is the respect for all sentient life. The general approach by all Buddhists is to avoid killing any living animals. Buddha explained the issue by saying "all fear death; comparing others with oneself, one should neither kill nor cause to kill." In Sikhism , only meat obtained from hunting, or slaughtered with the Jhatka
3168-562: The hunt, reflected in such names as "pointer" and " setter ". Even as agriculture and animal husbandry became more prevalent, hunting often remained as a part of human culture where the environment and social conditions allowed. Hunter-gatherer societies persisted, even when increasingly confined to marginal areas. And within agricultural systems, hunting served to kill animals that prey upon domestic and wild animals or to attempt to extirpate animals seen by humans as competition for resources such as water or forage. When hunting moved from
3234-491: The idea of confrontational scavenging , which involves challenging and scaring off other predators after they have made a kill, which he suggests could have been the leading method of obtaining protein -rich meat by early humans. Stone spearheads dated as early as 500,000 years ago were found in South Africa. Wood does not preserve well, however, and Craig Stanford, a primatologist and professor of anthropology at
3300-499: The interpretation of the canonists is not in accordance with the letter or spirit of the laws of the church. Nevertheless, although a distinction between lawful and unlawful hunting is undoubtedly permissible, it is certain that a bishop can absolutely prohibit all hunting to the clerics of his diocese, as was done by synods at Milan , Avignon , Liège , Cologne , and elsewhere. Benedict XIV declared that such synodal decrees are not too severe, as an absolute prohibition of hunting
3366-501: The morality, ethics and legality of such practices. The pursuit, harvesting or catch and release of fish and aquatic cephalopods and crustaceans is called fishing , which however is widely accepted and not commonly categorised as a form of hunting. It is also not considered hunting to pursue animals without intent to kill them, as in wildlife photography , birdwatching , or scientific-research activities which involve tranquilizing or tagging of animals, although green hunting
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#17327721625913432-535: The multiple, or possibly main, environmental factors leading to the Holocene extinction of megafauna and their replacement by smaller herbivores . In some locations, such as Australia, humans are thought to have played a very significant role in the extinction of the Australian megafauna that was widespread prior to human occupation. Hunting was a crucial component of hunter-gatherer societies before
3498-523: The names of the god Shiva is Mrigavyadha (deer-slayer). The word Mriga , in many Indian languages including Malayalam, not only stands for deer, but for all animals and animal instincts (Mriga Thrishna). Shiva, as Mrigavyadha, is the one who destroys the animal instincts in human beings. In the epic Ramayana , Dasharatha , the father of Rama , is said to have the ability to hunt in the dark. During one of his hunting expeditions, he accidentally killed Shravana , mistaking him for game. During Rama's exile in
3564-500: The order of millions of years ago. Hunting has become deeply embedded in various human cultures and was once an important part of rural economies—classified by economists as part of primary production alongside forestry , agriculture , and fishery . Modern regulations (see game law ) distinguish lawful hunting activities from illegal poaching , which involves the unauthorised and unregulated killing , trapping , or capture of animals. Apart from food provision, hunting can be
3630-650: The recent past include some indigenous peoples of the Amazonas ( Aché ), some Central and Southern African ( San people ), some peoples of New Guinea ( Fayu ), the Mlabri of Thailand and Laos , the Vedda people of Sri Lanka , and a handful of uncontacted peoples . In Africa, one of the last remaining hunter-gatherer tribes are the Hadza of Tanzania. Even as animal domestication became relatively widespread and after
3696-421: The set of seven mechanical arts . Although various other animals have been used to aid the hunter, such as ferrets , the dog has assumed many very important uses to the hunter. The domestication of the dog has led to a symbiotic relationship in which the dog's independence from humans is deferred. Though dogs can survive independently of humans, and in many cases do ferally, when raised or adopted by humans
3762-509: The soldiers in British India during the 1770s of going out to hunt snipes , a shorebird considered extremely challenging for hunters due to its alertness, camouflaging colour and erratic flight behavior, is believed to be the origin of the modern word for sniper , as snipe-hunters needed to be stealthy in addition to having tracking skills and marksmanship . The term was used in the nineteenth century, and had become common usage by
3828-417: The species tends to defer to its control in exchange for habitation, food and support. Dogs today are used to find, chase, retrieve, and sometimes kill game. Dogs allow humans to pursue and kill prey that would otherwise be very difficult or dangerous to hunt. Different breeds of specifically bred hunting dog are used for different types of hunting. Waterfowl are commonly hunted using retrieving dogs such as
3894-558: The status of women and less powerful males declining as the status of men quickly became associated with their success at hunting, which also increased human violence within these societies. However, 9000-year-old remains of a female hunter along with a toolkit of projectile points and animal processing implements were discovered at the Andean site of Wilamaya Patjxa, Puno District in Peru . Evidence exists that hunting may have been one of
3960-416: The sustainable use of the wildlife resources, and the minimum level of conduct that the public will tolerate in a particular state, province, region, or country. If something is illegal it cannot, by definition, be fair chase. On the other hand, just because something is legal does not make it fair chase. There are certain aspects of fair chase hunting that extend beyond written laws. For example, shooting at
4026-487: The taking of game for food or for sport. Water-killing deer (driving deer with hounds or pushers into lakes where hunters waited in boats to either shoot, club, or cut the throats of deer) was a widespread practice, especially in the Adirondack Mountains . Article X of the club's constitution declared that the killing of game while swimming was an "offense" for which a member may be suspended or expelled from
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#17327721625914092-555: The two. These ethics did not transfer to the majority of immigrants that settled in the New World . Basic human survival and commercial enterprises often overlooked any hunting ethics. After two hundred years of unregulated hunting by recreational and commercial market hunters, the negative effects were severe. By the end of this "era of extermination", wildlife and especially big game populations were in drastic condition. Some species had already been lost to extinction, many others were on
4158-536: The value of human life. Islamic Sharia Law permits hunting of lawful animals and birds if they cannot be easily caught and slaughtered. However, this is only for the purpose of food and not for trophy hunting. A safari, from a Swahili word meaning "journey, expedition," especially in Africa, is defined as a journey to see or kill animals in their natural environment, most commonly in East Africa. Safari as
4224-527: The varying importance of different species depended on the geographic location. Mesolithic hunter-gathering lifestyles remained prevalent in some parts of the Americas , Sub-Saharan Africa , and Siberia , as well as all of Australia, until the European Age of Discovery . They still persist in some tribal societies , albeit in rapid decline. Peoples that preserved Paleolithic hunting-gathering until
4290-598: Was also expected to provide a form of recreation for the aristocracy. The importance of this proprietary view of game can be seen in the Robin Hood legends, in which one of the primary charges against the outlaws is that they "hunt the King's deer". In contrast, settlers in Anglophone colonies gloried democratically in hunting for all. In medieval Europe, hunting was considered by Johannes Scotus Eriugena to be part of
4356-807: Was presented in the 1990s. It has nevertheless often been assumed that at least occasional hunting behaviour may have been present well before the emergence of Homo .This can be argued on the basis of comparison with chimpanzees , the closest extant relatives of humans, who also engage in hunting, indicating that the behavioural trait may have been present in the Chimpanzee–human last common ancestor as early as 5 million years ago. The common chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes ) regularly engages in troop predation behaviour, where bands of beta males are led by an alpha male . Bonobos ( Pan paniscus ) have also been observed to occasionally engage in group hunting, although more rarely than Pan troglodytes , mainly subsisting on
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