by Economist

About the author: The Economist is a weekly English newsmagazine.

An uncivil war is starting in the world of animals and people are having to take sides. In one camp are those who believe that more legal protection is needed to save the world’s wildlife; they include fund-raising conservationists in the West, their allies in the media, and government officials almost everywhere. In the other camp are those who believe that greater protection is doomed to fail because it pits wildlife against indigenous people all over the world—be they Masai tribesmen, gamekeepers in Scotland or ranchers in Montana resisting the reintroduction of the wolf. The only hope, pro-hunters maintain, is to allow exploitation, so giving people an incentive to tolerate wild animals in their neighbourhood.

The debate is full of irony, not to say...