also targets of hunting, both recreationally and commercially, often with heated controversies regarding the morality, ethics and legality of such practices. The pursuit, harvesting or catch and release of fish and aquatic cephalopods and crustaceans is called fishing, which however is widely accepted and not commonly categorised as a form of hunting, even though it essentially is. It is also not considered hunting to pursue animals without intent to kill them, as in wildlife photography, birdwatching, or scientific-research activities which involve tranquilizing or tagging of animals, although green hunting is still called so. The practices of netting or trapping insects and other arthropods for trophy collection, or the foraging or gathering of plants and mushrooms, are also not regarded as hunting. Skillful tracking and acquisition of an elusive target has caused the word hunt to be used in the vernacular as a metaphor for searching and obtaining something, as in "treasure hunting", "bargain hunting", "hunting for votes" and even "hunting down" corruption and waste. Etymology The word hunt serves as both a noun ("the act of chasing game") and a verb. The noun has been dated to the early 12th century, from the verb hunt. Old English had huntung, huntoþ. The meaning of "a body of persons associated for the purpose of hunting with a pack of hounds" is first recorded in the 1570s. "The act of searching for someone or something" is from about 1600. The verb, Old English huntian "to chase game" (transitive and intransitive), perhaps developed from hunta "hunter," is related to hentan "to seize," from Proto-Germanic huntojan (the source also of Gothic hinþan "to seize, capture," Old High German hunda "booty"), which is of uncertain origin. The general sense of "search diligently" (for anything) is first recorded c. 1200. Types Recreational hunting, also known as trophy hunting, sport hunting or "sporting" Big game hunting Big Five game (lion, elephant, buffalo, African leopard, rhinoceros) Bear hunting Tiger hunting Caribou hunting Medium/small game hunting Fox hunting Deer hunting/stalking Boar hunting Mink hunting Coon hunting Fowling Waterfowl hunting Shorebird hunting (snipe, woodcock, curlew, sandpiper, plover) Upland hunting (quail, pheasant, grouse, turkey) Pest control/nuisance management Predator culling Wolf hunting Jackal coursing Coyote hunting Bobcat hunting Varmint hunting Rabbiting Squirrel hunting Rook shooting Commercial hunting Seal hunting Whaling, dolphin drive, dugong hunting Alligator hunting Kangaroo hunting Poaching History Lower to Middle Paleolithic Hunting has a long history. It pre-dates the emergence