overhuntingn.
/ˌəʊvəˈhʌntɪŋ/, U.S. /ˌoʊvərˈhən(t)ɪŋ/ Hunting to excess; unsustainable hunting, esp. of a population or species of animal.In quot. 1761, implying overexertion of the hunter rather than depletion of the stock of the hunted animal.
ΚΠ
1761 Philos. Trans. 1760 (Royal Soc.) 51 652 Being bruised or tired from over-hunting, they give them some Mummy, wrapped up in their meat, and a warm place to rest until they recover.
c1859 Fur Trade & Hudson's Bay Company in Chambers's Repository 65 27 Happily, there are still extensive tracts which the evils of over-hunting and overtrading have not yet reached.
1897 Science 17 Dec. 913 The annual catch [of sea otter] increased from 2,265 to 4,152 and then, as the inevitable result of overhunting, rapidly declined.
1941 R. H. Westveld & R. H. Peck Forestry & Farm Managem. 257 Depletion through overhunting alone can usually be remedied within one or two favorable seasons simply through restriction of kill.
1993 M. J. Plotkin Tales Shaman's Apprentice vi. 193 No birds chirped in the trees, no monkeys chattered in the distance. I asked Kamainja the reason for this. His answer was typically terse: ‘Overhunting’.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1761