Traditional hunting: cultural rights v animal welfare

Abstract

The traditional right to hunt has been recognised for some time now by Australian courts and by Parliament as one of the native title rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. I Concomitantly growing community concerns have emerged about the cruelty of common traditional hunting practices. These practices include harpooning and drowning of dugongs; harpooning of turtles or killing them with blows to the head; keeping sea turtles upside down and freshwater turtles in drums for lengthy periods; breaking the necks of mutton bird chicks; and breaking, severing or tethering animals' limbs as a means of control and storage. Increasingly, Indigenous communities are providing leadership by actively promoting more humane hunting methods.