Cyber Hunting Revisited

Cyber hunting or "hunting by remote control" is a technology-driven concept in which users sitting in front of a computer can log on to the Internet and, with a click of a mouse, mortally wound a live animal in a remote ranch.

I talked about this in class last March for our weekly current event mini-report. This issue first came to my attention when I read about it in a New York Times article (link: registration may or may not be required) last March. But apparently, this has been reported by others more than a year earlier (see this Columbia News Service and this LiveScience article).

The basic idea is this: To be a "cyber hunter", you could sign up on a website and pay a fee. You would then have a session - an opportunity to view live animals in the entrepreneur's ranch over the Internet. Using your mouse, you can adjust the crosshairs and focus on your target animal. As you click the mouse, a remote-controlled rifle will activate on the ranch and fire at the target/animal. The animal's head can be shipped to you as trophy (for your gallant effort?).

Texas, where this practice originated through the efforts of John Lockwood, has since banned the practice. Other states have since followed suit. In opposition, Lockwood's argument is that his business gives disabled people the opportunity to experience and enjoy hunting.

But, since when has hunting been within the comforts of one's home, with the hunter slouched in front of the computer, possibly with chips and soda by the side and the TV showing some reality show? Hunting as a sport still involves experiencing nature, not just utilizing technology. Otherwise, I think it loses its spirit and, in this case is nothing more like a, well, computer game. While we're at it, I don't know if this really gives disabled people a chance to experience (the joy of) hunting. An imperfect analogy came to mind. It doesn't work that well but I hope it serves the purpose. When I'm playing NBA Live on my PC, I'm not actually playing basketball. I'm playing a computer game. No body contact, no fatigue, etc. I don't have to drink water or wipe my sweat every timeout since I'm not really playing basketball. I think that works too for cyber hunting: it's more of a computer game (sadly, involving living animals) than hunting.

I'm concerned about the implications of this practice and I hope this gets banned everywhere in the world, although I haven't heard anything like this outside of the US. As I revisited this topic, 2 dozen states (US) have already banned this practice in their respective areas, the latest as of this writing being Illinois.