26 January 2024 , 20:58
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As many as 100 lions have been slaughtered by British trophy hunters since the killing of big cat Cecil caused outrage in 2015.
Figures released by the Government show 80% of the lions shot by Britons were bred to be killed in enclosed fields in what is known as ‘"canned hunting". Some 19 of the 118 slain were murdered in the wild – and the number could be even higher as the figures for 2023 have not been released.
From 2015 to 2022, British hunters brought home nine lion bodies, two heads, 29 skins, 14 bones and 10 sets of lioness claws, plus feet and tails. Among the bloodthirsty Brits are Syed Rizwan, from Essex, who admitted killing a lion on an African hunting trip.
But the most notorious is arguably Carl Knight, originally from Surrey, who runs Take Aim Safaris.
His firm gives holidaymakers the chance to hunt lions, elephants, hippos, giraffes, leopards, zebras and a host of other animals in South Africa.
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Mr Knight has previously defended his passion for bloodsports to the Mirror, saying: “Our hunts are legal and whether you like it or not is of no relevance to me.”
There were an estimated 200,000 wild lions in the 1970s. That figure has now dwindled to between 10,000 and 20,000, meaning the population is comparable in size to that of rhinos or orangutans.
The Mirror has been working alongside the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting to stop animal parts being imported into the UK.
In the Queen’s Speech of October 2019, the Government announced plans to introduce a comprehensive ban on hunting trophies of endangered species.
The Bill passed unanimously in the Commons and when it went to the Lords, but fell at the last minute due to opposition from a small group of pro-hunting peers. It is now returning for second reading by John Spellar on March 22.
Eduardo Gon-calves, founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting said: “Everyone remembers the cruel killing of Cecil by American dentist Walter Palmer. It was a shocking wake-up call to the fact that trophy hunting is still going on when everyone assumed it had died out with colonialism.
“Now the Government has admitted that it has allowed British trophy hunters to bring home trophies of up to 100 lions shot for ‘fun’. It is time to bring this barbarism to an end. This is a Bill that has cross-party support as well as the backing of nine out of 10 voters. It’s a no-brainer.”
Lion trophies are already banned in countries such as France and Australia. Moves to ban imports of trophies are being brought forward in several other nations including Belgium and Finland. There are also a number of trophy import restrictions in place in the US, where cheetah and polar bear souvenirs are banned.
Both are still permitted to enter into the UK.
Comedian and After Life star Ricky Gervais is among the celebrities backing the ban. He said: “Hundreds of animals could have been saved if the law had already been brought in. But because of delays and then a little group of Lords nobody voted for scuppering the Bill, sick trophy hunters from Britain have carried on killing.
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“Politicians from every single party back a ban. Let’s see them work together for a change and get a law passed that virtually every voter in Britain supports.”
Dame Joanna Lumley added: “I urge Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer to throw their united weight behind this new Bill.”
And Dame Judi Dench said: “It is scandalous that [the Bill] was blocked by a tiny minority in the House of Lords. We need to all get behind it and make sure it becomes law as quickly as possible. We need to stop these people who think killing animals is entertainment.”