Bambi Effect

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The Bambi Effect is an informal name used primarily by hunters and trappers for the emotional impact of the killing of animals which the public considers adorable, regardless of what the opponents consider are environmental and economic realities. The name comes from the film Bambi, where an emotional highpoint is the death of the lead character's mother at the hands of human hunters.

A classic example is the reaction of the seal pup hunt in Canada. While the hunt for the profitable white fur that seal pup was done for generations, the situation radically changed in the 1970s when the species received considerable mass media attention. For much of the general public, harp seal pups with their white fur and liquid black eyes looked so innocent and adorable that the footage of hunters killing them by bludgeoning to death to avoid damaging the fur was considered horrific. Hunters were frustrated that arguments in their favour could not compete against this kind of emotional response. Today, mindful of the public sentiment presented in protests and boycotts, the hunting of harp seal below a certain age and clubbing them to death is banned but in some cases still continues.