Hunting and gathering
Topic: Primary Activities: Gathering, Pastoralism, Agriculture and Mining · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Primary Activities"
Meaning
Hunting and gathering are the oldest economic activities. Early people ate wild animals they hunted and wild plants they gathered nearby. People in very cold and very hot climates lived mainly by hunting. Their tools were simple, made of stone, twigs and arrows, so they killed only a few animals. Today poaching (illegal hunting) has pushed many species to extinction. So hunting is banned in India under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Example
The Inuit of the Arctic coasts of northern Canada traditionally lived by hunting seals and caribou. The cold climate let very few plants grow there.
Don't confuse with
- Pastoralism: people rear tame animals and move with them. Hunters catch wild animals instead.