Legal hunting of threatened species—and especially the recreational practice of “trophy hunting”—is controversial with ethical objections being increasingly voiced. Less public attention has been paid to how hunting (even of threatened species) can be useful as a conservation tool, and likely outcomes if this was stopped. As case studies, we examine the regulated legal hunting of two African rhino species in South Africa and Namibia over the last half-century. Counter-intuitively, removing a small number of specific males can enhance population demography and genetic diversity, encourage range expansion, and generate meaningful socioeconomic benefits to help fund effective conservation (facilitated by appropriate local institutional arrangements).

中文翻译：

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保护高度濒危物种的合法狩猎：以非洲犀牛为例

对受威胁物种的合法狩猎——尤其是“战利品狩猎”的娱乐活动——是有争议的，因为伦理上的反对意见越来越多。公众很少关注狩猎（甚至是受威胁的物种）如何作为一种保护工具，以及如果停止狩猎可能产生的结果。作为案例研究，我们研究了过去半个世纪在南非和纳米比亚对两种非洲犀牛的合法狩猎。与直觉相反，去除少数特定雄性可以增强人口统计和遗传多样性，鼓励范围扩大，并产生有意义的社会经济效益，以帮助资助有效的保护（通过适当的当地制度安排促进）。