Hunting is one of the oldest causes of animal extinction and endangerment. While hunting is often regulated through measures such as licences and weapon control, it can still endanger many species.

This is because hunting disturbs many animal habits including migration and hibernation. For instance, animals such as wolves mate for life and live in close-knit families, so hunting can damage their communities.

In particular, fish, whale and dolphin populations have decreased drastically. According to research, the fish population almost halved between 1970 and 2012. In addition, each year, a minimum of 300,000 whales and dolphins die as a result of commercial fishing. Moreover, 90% of large predatory fish such as sharks, tuna, marlin, and swordfish are already gone.

Hunting has historically been conducted both for survival and for entertainment. For example, while gladiator fights between humans were highly popular in ancient Rome, the gladiators also fought a lot of animals – mostly lions, tigers and bears. These fights carried on until death.

Although not as extreme today, animals are still used for entertainment purposes. This can be seen in bullfighting, the grindadráp whale killing festival and the Yulin dog meat festival. Each year, around 250,000 bulls die because of bullfighting.

Many more countries today still count hunting as a sport for both culture and entertainment. An example of this is fox hunting, which is a traditional activity involving tracking, chasing and killing foxes. Although banned in England and Wales in 2004, the practice still remains legal in some places such as Northern Ireland.

Deer hunting, which dates back tens of thousands of years, remains particularly popular, especially in North America. Deer are hunted for meat, as sport and to maintain proportionate populations of deer, known as culling; but it has also caused population loss when culling is used disproportionately.

Hunting is still a necessity for survival in some countries. For example, in Alaska and Greenland, citizens may find themselves in the position where they must hunt in order to survive the harsh winters ahead. Not only can hunters preserve meat for emergencies, they can also gain large profits based on the size and type of animal they hunt.

The problem is that prohibition could be financially disadvantageous. This is because many countries rely on the tourism and fashion industries, in which animals play an important part.

For example, a lot of organisations allow customers to hunt animals on their property. There are also many jobs within the hunting industry. Meanwhile, tens of millions of animals are bred and killed each year for the fashion industry, which uses fur, leather, and other animal parts to make glamorous coats, bags and shoes.

However, many tourists come to a country specifically to see the wildlife – as in my country, Sri Lanka, for example. So preventing poaching and hunting, and protecting wildlife and improving biodiversity instead, could boost the tourism industry.

Illegal wildlife trafficking in Sri Lanka is estimated to be worth $7.23bn, but wildlife tourism adds up to over five times this number at over $120bn.