LED Flashlights Make Hunting Easier, But At What Cost?

For decades, humans have been using light-emitting devices such as flashlights in order to hunt for prey. Apparently, sudden light causes confusion to animals and makes them freeze. In the past, however, flashlights with incandescent bulbs quickly run out of power, which makes it a costly tool for the hunter. It also makes hunting more difficult. But with the current LED technology, which can emit the same light with less power, hunters have found it easier to hunt. There is a downside, however.

Cheap, powerful flashlights are allowing hunters in tropical jungles around the world to more easily kill nocturnal animals, including endangered species such as pangolins, according to a new study. Scientists warn the new technology threatens to further damage ecosystems already strained by overhunting.

But for forest ecologist Robert Nasi, the problem is not the LED flashlights; it is how people use them.

For example, Gabonese hunters working at night in the vast forests of the Congo reported killing threatened species, including the giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) and various small antelopes known as duikers. LEDs could fuel intensive hunting of the sort that can take a toll on jungle ecosystems, Nasi says. But for people hunting to feed themselves, the lights could save time, freeing them up to do other things like fish or tend crops.

What are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: Memed_Nurrohmad/ Pixabay)