Subsistence hunting
Subsistence hunting is the pursuit and taking of wild animals primarily to supply food, materials, or other necessities for a household or community.
Tracking (hunting): The practice of following signs left by animals to locate or identify them. Tracks, calls, and other signs help hunters find game while limiting wasted effort.
Bushmeat: Wild animal meat used as food, especially in tropical regions. Wild game can supply household protein where domestic meat is scarce or costly.
Indigenous peoples: Peoples with historical continuity to societies that occupied a region before later colonization or state formation. Many Indigenous communities maintain hunting practices tied to territory, identity, and livelihood.
Overhunting: The removal of animals through hunting at a rate that populations cannot sustain. Excessive harvest can undermine the wildlife that subsistence households depend on.
Commercial hunting: The pursuit and killing of wild animals primarily to sell their meat, hides, or other products. Its primary purpose is market sale rather than direct household or community provision.
Hunting with dogs: The use of trained dogs to locate, flush, pursue, or retrieve wild animals during a hunt. Dogs can extend hunters’ ability to find and recover animals.
Fur trade: The commercial exchange of animal pelts and products made from fur. Furs may provide clothing and tools or be traded for other necessities.
Inuit: An Indigenous people whose communities inhabit Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada, and Alaska. Inuit hunting traditions include harvesting marine and land animals for food and materials.
Trophic cascade: An ecological change in a food web triggered by effects at one or more trophic levels. Changes in hunted animal populations can alter predators, prey, and vegetation.
Recreational hunting: Hunting undertaken primarily for sport, leisure, or personal enjoyment. It differs in purpose from hunts centered on necessities.