How does Zaroff justify hunting humans in "The Most Dangerous Game"?

After being "bitterly disappointed" with the hunting of
jaguars in South America, General Zaroff was finding himself bored with hunting. For a
man whose "hand was made for the trigger," Zaroff was worried that he might eventually
"go to pieces" like many American businessmen who give up their
work.

"I had
no wish to go to pieces," he
said.

Zaroff had come to the
conclusion that hunting no longer presented him

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"a sporting proposition... It had become too
easy... There is no greater bore than
perfection."

So, for his own
personal gratification and mental stability, Zaroff decided to try his hand at the
hunting of humans. Humans could reason, Zaroff told Rainsford, and reason was a far
greater quality than animal instinct. To Zaroff, hunting humans was not murder; the men
he hunted were "the scum of the earth," and he fed them well and kept them in good
physical condition. Above all, it gave him pleasure.

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"Life is for the
strong, to be lived by the strong, and, if needs be, taken by the strong. The weak of
the world were put here to give the strong pleasure. I am strong. Why should I not use
my gift?"