Title : Trump lifts ban on importing elephant trophies from Africa
link : Trump lifts ban on importing elephant trophies from Africa
Trump lifts ban on importing elephant trophies from Africa
- The ban on importing trophies was brought in by the Obama administration
- Trump's sons Donald and Eric have been pictured with big game they killed
- Fish and Wildlife Service said sport hunting is part of 'sound management'
- The Humane Society has condemned decision, NRA and Safari Club welcomed it
The Trump administration has reversed a ban on the importing of trophies from elephants killed in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
The move reverses the ban com put in place by the Obama administration in 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) confirmed.
The president's sons Donald Jr and Eric Trump were heavily criticised in 2015 after being photographed with a leopard and other big game kills.
Though elephants are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, the legislation allows permits to import trophies if there is evidence the hunting benefits conservation for that species.
The Fish and Wildlife Service said the import ban on trophies from elephants has been lifted
Donald Jr (left) and Eric Trump (right) posing with a leopard they shot on a hunting trip to Africa in pictures which emerged three years ago
Donald Jr poses with the tail of an elephant which he appears to have just cut off
New information from officials in Zimbabwe and Zambia supports reversing the ban to allow trophy hunting permits, the FWS said.
In a statement, it said: 'Legal, well-regulated sport hunting as part of a sound management program can benefit the conservation of certain species by providing incentives to local communities to conserve the species and by putting much-needed revenue back into conservation.'
The use of game hunting to generate income for conservation came under scrutiny after Cecil the lion was killed in Zimbabwe in 2015.
According to the 2016 Great Elephant Census, the population plummeted by roughly 30 percent, or 144,000 from 2007 to 2014, dropping 6 percent in Zimbabwe alone and there are now 350,000 elephants remaining on the African Savanna.
The rule change applies to elephants shot in Zimbabwe on or after January 21, 2016, and to those legally permitted to be hunted before the end of next year.
A similar rule has been put into place for Zambia, where the Great Elephant Census estimates the animal's numbers have declined from 200,000 in 1972 to a little more than 21,000 last year.
Humane Society of the United States said banning trophies from Zimbabwe should continue because it is 'one of the most corrupt countries on Earth'.
The country's deposed leader Robert Mugabe celebrated his birthday by dining on an elephant, said the society.
Big game hunters paying to kill wildlife came under scrutiny after Walter Palmer shot Cecil the lion (pictured)
The Great Elephant Census estimates the animal's numbers have declined from 200,000 in 1972 to a little more than 21,000 last year in Zambia
The population plummeted by roughly 30 percent, or 144,000 from 2007 to 2014, the Great Elephant Census found
Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive, said: 'It's a venal and nefarious pay-to-slay arrangement that Zimbabwe has set up with the trophy hunting industry.
'What kind of message does it send to say to the world that poor Africans who are struggling to survive cannot kill elephants in order to use or sell their parts to make a living, but that it's just fine for rich Americans to slay the beasts for their tusks to keep as trophies?'
Conservation group The Elephant Project Tweeted its condemnation of the lifting of the ban saying: 'Reprehensible behaviour by the Trump Admin. 100 elephants a day are already killed. This will lead to more poaching.'
An elephant graveyard in Zimbabwe, where the population has fell by 6 per cent between 2007 and 2014
But Chris Cox, Executive Director of the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action welcomed the decision, saying it was long overdue.
'By lifting the import ban on lion trophies in Zimbabwe and Zambia, the Trump Administration underscored the importance of sound scientific wildlife management and regulated hunting to the survival and enhancement of game species in this country and worldwide,' he said.
'This is a significant step forward in having hunting receive the recognition it deserves as a tool of wildlife management, which had been all but buried in the previous administration.'
The Safari Club International, which advocates 'sustainable use hunting', also welcomed the FWS decision.
'These positive findings for Zimbabwe and Zambia demonstrate that the Fish and Wildlife Service recognizes that hunting is beneficial to wildlife and that these range countries know how to manage their elephant populations,' President Paul Babaz said in a statement.
'We appreciate the efforts of the Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior to remove barriers to sustainable use conservation for African wildlife.'
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