Editing Hunting (section)

===Indian subcontinent===
[[File:Weeks Edwin Departure For The Hunt.jpg|thumb|[[Edwin Lord Weeks|Weeks Edwin's]] painting ''Departure for the Hunt'', c. 1885]]
[[File:Hunting party mandalay1885.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1|A ''Shikar'' party in [[Mandalay]], [[Burma]], soon after the conclusion of the [[Third Anglo-Burmese War]] in 1886, when Burma was annexed to [[British India]]]]
During the [[Indian feudalism|feudal]] and [[colonial India|colonial]] times in [[British Raj|British India]], hunting or ''shikar'' was regarded as a regal sport in the numerous [[princely states]], as many [[maharaja]]s and [[nawab]]s, as well as British officers, maintained a whole corps of ''shikari''s ([[big-game hunting|big-game hunters]]), who were native professional hunters. They would be headed by a master of the hunt, who might be styled ''mir-shikar''. Often, they recruited the normally low-ranking local tribes because of their [[traditional knowledge]] of the environment and hunting techniques. Big game, such as [[Bengal tigers]], might be hunted from the back of an [[Indian elephant]].

Regional [[Norm (sociology)|social norms]] are generally antagonistic to hunting, while a few [[sect]]s, such as the [[Bishnoi]], lay special emphasis on the conservation of particular species, such as the [[antelope]]. India's [[Wildlife Protection Act of 1972]] bans the killing of all wild animals. However, the [[Indian Forest Service|Chief Wildlife Warden]] may, if satisfied that any wild animal from a specified list has become dangerous to human life or is so disabled or diseased as to be beyond recovery, permit any person to hunt such an animal. In this case, the body of any wild animal killed or wounded becomes government property.<ref>{{cite web |author=Helplinelaw |url=http://www.helplinelaw.com/docs/wildlife/01.php |title=Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 |publisher=Helplinelaw.com |access-date=20 April 2012 |archive-date=22 December 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031222151616/http://www.helplinelaw.com/docs/wildlife/01.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The practice among the soldiers in British India during the 1770s of going out to hunt [[snipe]]s, a [[shorebird]] considered extremely challenging for hunters due to its alertness, camouflaging colour and erratic flight behavior, is believed to be the origin of the modern word for [[sniper]], as snipe-hunters needed to be stealthy in addition to having [[tracking (hunting)|tracking]] skills and [[marksmanship]].<ref name=":10">{{cite book|last=Pegler|first=Martin|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/56654780|title=Out of nowhere : a history of the military sniper|date=2004|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=1-84176-854-5|location=Oxford|pages=16|oclc=56654780}}</ref><ref name="etymology">{{cite web|title=Snipe|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=snipe|access-date=8 April 2019|work=Online Etymology Dictionary|archive-date=4 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704125526/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=snipe|url-status=live}}</ref> The term was used in the nineteenth century, and had become common usage by the [[First World War]].