Claims versus counter-claims

ALLEGATIONS made by MPs, and the response of conservationists:

÷British trophy hunters are among the world’s most active killers of endangered species.

The UK does not even rank in the top 20 for countries importing such trophies.

÷Trophy hunting is linked to ‘declining lion numbers’.

International Union for Conservation of Nature figures show lion populations rising, including in trophy hunting areas.

÷Hunting had the ‘single most significant effect’ on lion populations.

Trophy hunting is one of the lowestranking threats to lions overall.

÷Botswana banned the trophy hunting of elephants years ago, and now has a third of Africa’s elephants.

Botswana had only a five-year ban from 2014, and had the largest population of elephants before the ban started.

÷Under the regime of Seretse Khama in Botswana, poaching was effectively eliminated during the ban. There was significant poaching, including of elephants, throughout the regime.

÷Kenya, which banned trophy hunting in 1977, is today an African conservation success story.

Wildlife numbers have declined by around two-thirds since the ban.

÷While black rhino numbers have fallen by 35 per cent elsewhere, they have gone up a fifth in Kenya.

Nearly all countries with black rhinos have seen increasing numbers, including those where there is trophy hunting.

÷ A blind eye is effectively turned to poaching in pro-hunting countries.

There is extensive, well-documented anti-poaching activity across many countries that permit trophy hunting.

÷The UK is a world leader in nature conservation.

The UK is one of the most naturedepleted countries in the world. ÷98% of Britons support a ban. Fewer than half want a ban if it negatively impacts people or wildlife.