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Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior pp 1–10Cite as

Hunting

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

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Synonyms

Trapping; Sporting

Definition

Hunting can be defined as the pursuit of wild animals with the intent of killing or trapping them.

Introduction

Up until the mid-twentieth century, it was widely accepted that the earliest of hominids actively hunted wild animals for sustenance and that these animals made up a significant proportion of their diets. This widespread view was questioned by Richard B. Lee who played a major role in theorizing that this was not necessarily the case for all hominids, particularly those existing in more temperate latitudes. Following 15 months of fieldwork in 1968, Lee demonstrated the reality of a largely plant-based diet in the!Kung Bushmen, a marginalized group which inhabits the semiarid Kalahari deserts of Botswana. Lee suggested that it was reasonable to consider the possibility that the prehistoric “hunter” diet was reflected in that of the!Kung Bushmen’s, which was made up of between 30% and 40% meat.

In the late 1980s, Lee’s hypotheses were...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK

    Sarah Banet-Eugene & Joseph Taylor

Authors
  1. Sarah Banet-Eugene
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  2. Joseph Taylor
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joseph Taylor .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Jennifer Vonk

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University Department of Psychology, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of Chicago, Chicago, USA

    Peggy Mason

  2. Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, United States of America

    Yuri Sugano

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Banet-Eugene, S., Taylor, J. (2019). Hunting. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1357-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1357-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

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