Big game

[urbpan]

Some good discussion developed on Facebook (of all places) when I posted a link to this: http://deepseanews.com/2013/02/this-is-why-we-cant-have-nice-things/


"Why is it that we seem to have moved away from celebrating images like the one above left (a big game hunter posing over a dead African lion) yet seem to have no problem with the the image above right (a fishing party with their 1,320 pound dead Blue marlin caught off Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean)?...Why do we seem so resistant to seeing fish (marlin, shark… whatever) as wildlife?"

Or the way I put it: Is posing with a dead, hunted predator tacky/classless/unacceptable? What if that predator was a fish?

Comments

[mmsword.livejournal.com]

I think a large portion of this is mythology and culture. Fish has been squarely "Food" for humanity since pretty much day one. Mammals are easier to anthropomorphize and we have more complex relationships with.

Also as an interesting contrast, imagine if those fishermen were posing with a dead orca or whale and the reaction that would garner.

[badnoodles.livejournal.com]

I agree. Killing a lion is exclusively about the trophy. They aren't a food (or at least, generally not to the person who did the shooting). On the other hand, a large sailfish or marlin are widely thought of as delicious.