This week for Reading, the Harry Potter group have been researching about seals being hunted. We have read up on this topic and would like to share with you the facts. We will leave it up to you to decide whether Seal hunting is acceptable.
Reasons why seals are being hunted:
• Baby pups are being killed before they have a chance to become adults and breed. This means the seals population is getting smaller and smaller.
• Seals are killed for their blubber, which is a layer of fat to keep them warm. It can be used for valuable oils for heating and lighting.
• Seals are also killed for their meat, but mostly their fur.
• The best fur comes from a baby Harp seal. This fur is luxurious, soft, warm and white. Humans are using this fur for accessories and look better than everyone else.
• Some people complained that seals were eating too many fish in their area which caused a shortage of food for the people. Therefore, people hunted seals for food and to stop them eating the fish.
• People who live in cold places, kill seals for warm coats that they make out of the seals fur.
• During the 2nd half of the 20th century, seals became extremely rare. Seal hunting is banned in most countries now, however people have been found seal hunting in parts of Canada and the Artic regions.
• People believe that in some countries there are a lot of seals and therefore they should be allowed to hunt them.
• When synthetic furs became available, the need for real fur became unnecessary. People however still hunt seals.
• But don’t forget the people, like the Inuit, who need to hunt seals to survive, they only hunt what they need and that’s all.
They are the facts – you decide whether it’s fair or not.
