Today could well be a historic day for animal welfare in the UK. But we need your help.
It is the second reading of Henry Smith MP’s Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill which stands to be the strongest of its kind in the world.
If passed, this landmark bill would ban trophy hunters from bringing trophies (heads and other body parts) of endangered and vulnerable animals into Britain. It looks to be the only surviving element from the Animals Abroad Bill, a host of promised legislation that would have seen stronger protections for animals and was warmly welcomed by the public.
Disappointingly, the ban on bringing trophies into the UK is the only promise that still hasn’t been broken. Henry Smith’s Bill is a chance to get at least one piece of protective legislation passed but even that is at risk. While to many this legislation may seem a clear-cut formality – polling has shown that 86% of UK voters support the ban1 – there is controversy around the Bill itself.
One argument is that money from trophy hunting is fed back into local economies and supports the local community but this is debatable and research shows that local communities are generally not the main beneficiaries of trophy hunting. There are also alternative incentives to explore that are not at the cost of the lives of wild animals, such as wildlife-viewing and photography which is hugely beneficial to the local economy.
Trophy hunting is a cruel and unacceptable approach to wildlife conservation and sustainable development efforts. We believe responsible wildlife-friendly tourism is an under-utilised sustainable alternative, providing income and incentives to protect animals whilst fostering a greater respect than killing them for sport, pleasure, and entertainment.
It is also worth pointing out that while the above argument is the one that trophy hunters often cite, an unnamed trophy hunter on a BBC podcast stated that, “To shoot an elephant is an awesome thing to do, it is a stunningly, stunningly awesome thing to do, which is why I did it.”
This possibly speaks to the real motivation for maintaining the status quo.
And while the discussion rages on it is worth noting that a quick and painless death is certainly not a given, when amateur hunters are paying big bucks to shoot iconic wildlife. You may recall Cecil the lion, a beloved lion from Hwange National Park who was killed by an American dentist? It was reported that Cecil the lion was shot with an arrow, suffering for 40 hours before finally being shot dead with a gun.
Australia, France, and the Netherlands all implemented bans on the import of lion trophies in the wake of the ensuing public outcry. We want the UK government to go one step further and ban the import of all hunting trophies.
The most popular animals shot by British trophy hunters include African elephants, hippopotamuses, Black bears, leopards, zebras (Hartmann’s Mountain), lions, and chacma baboons. In recent years, British hunters have also brought home the heads, bodies and skins of polar bears, rhinos, cheetahs, giraffes, monkeys, seals, otters, and selections of wild cats.
This is at a time when many species are under growing threat of extinction. African elephants have recently been upgraded to Endangered on the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Red List. Lions have seen numbers collapse from 200,000 in the 1970s to less than 20,000 today. There are just 6,684 cheetahs, 3,142 black rhinos and 10,080 white rhinos remaining in the wild and giraffe numbers are under threat.
There are non-lethal, non-consumptive alternatives such as wildlife-friendly tourism and other economic measures that incentivise conservation and avoid the killing of wild animals for sport. We believe that promoting the growth of responsible wildlife-friendly tourism has the potential to help finance wildlife conservation, to demonstrate that wildlife is worth more alive than dead, and that trophy hunting has no place in the future of sustainable tourism.
We can no longer reduce wild animals to commodities to be cruelly exploited by humans without regard for their lives or welfare. Wild animals are sentient beings, and their intrinsic value should be recognized as an essential component in ensuring the survival of species and the protection of the environment and this is what we should be enshrining in law for wildlife, people and planet.
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Following the procession on November 25th, 2022, World Animal Protection is delighted the Hunting Trophies Import Prohibition Bill has passed its second reading in the House of Commons. This means that endangered animals, who are mercilessly hunted by trophy hunters who see these amazing animals as commodities to be cruelly killed for their own pleasure, will be one step further in being protected from being imported into the UK as hunting trophies.
Trophy hunting is cruel, immoral and has no place in the future of sustainable tourism.
1For clarity, trophy hunting is the controversial killing of an animal for competition or pleasure, with the purpose of acquiring body parts - such as heads, tusks, antlers, horns, or skins – as a status symbol or for display. Trophy hunting is distinct from killing an animal to obtain meat for human consumption.
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Image credits: Hero image: Joe Mercier / Shutterstock | Body image: Aida Servi / Shutterstock
We can no longer reduce wild animals to commodities to be cruelly exploited by humans without regard for their lives or welfare.