Trump: Let big game hunters (like my sons) bring trophies to US
DONALD Trump wants to allow big game hunters – like his sons Donald Jr and Eric – to import trophies from slain elephants into America again.
The White House proposal overturns an Obama-era ban on elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia.
The announcement, which covers animals killed in legal hunts, caused outrage among animal activists.
Non-profit conservation group The Elephant Project called it ‘reprehensible behaviour’ which would lead to more poaching.
But the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which confirmed the move, argued it could help by ‘putting much-needed revenue back into conservation.’
The US President wants the change despite the fact the animals have been listed under the Endangered Species Act since 1978. Experts say that numbers of African elephants are plummeting.
The President’s eldest son, Donald Jr, was pictured in 2011 posing with the tail from a dead elephant he had killed on a hunting trip.
Another picture shows him with his brother Eric, both smiling for the camera, as they hold up a dead leopard.
‘Reprehensible behaviour by the Trump Admin,’ tweeted The Elephant Project. The group added: ‘One hundred elephants a day are already killed. This will lead to more poaching.’
Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, brought up the widely-reported death of Cecil the lion, who was shot in Zimbabwe by a US dentist in 2015.
He said: ‘Remember it was Zimbabwe where Walter Palmer shot Cecil, one of the most beloved and well-studied African lions, who was lured out of a national park for the killing. Palmer paid a big fee even though it did irreparable damage to the nation’s reputation.’
Last night the White House said it had not yet finalised a decision to allow trophy hunters who kill elephants in two African countries to bring the endangered animals home.
A spokesman said: ‘There hasn’t been an announcement that’s been finalised on this front. Until that’s done I wouldn’t consider anything final.’