Do Hunters Actually Help Conserve Wildlife?

Big game hunting does not enjoy the same reputation it had back when President Theodore Roosevelt killed 512 animals during a 1909 safari through eastern Africa.

Last year, the killing of Cecil the Lion -- the beloved Zimbabwean big cat slain by a Minnesota hunter -- ignited an international firestorm over the role of hunters in conserving wildlife. Walter Palmer, the then-57-year-old dentist who paid about $55,000 to shoot the lion, became the Internet's persona non grata. The Yelp page for his dentistry practice still draws angry comments from animal lovers. His countrymen even called for his extradition to Zimbabwe, a country with notoriously grotesque prison conditions.

More...