Peers urged to back ban on trophy hunting imports and ignore conservation claims

14 June 2023 , 17:00

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Campaigners want to end trophy hunting imports (Image: Animal Planet)

Peers are under mounting pressure to back a ban on trophy hunting imports when plans return to Parliament this week.

The Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill, supported by the Mirror, aims to stop sick hunters bringing their souvenirs home to Britain.

The legislation, led by Conservative backbench MP Henry Smith, would block hunting tourists importing animal skins, severed heads and carcasses after shoots abroad.

It is due to be debated in the Lords on Friday - but some supporters fear it could be derailed by opponents who claim it would harm conservation efforts in Africa.

They believe trophy hunting helps fund schemes to protect other wildlife.

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Ahead of the hearing, 103 wildlife conservation experts, scientists, government officials and community leaders from across Africa have written an open letter urging peers to back the ban.

Wildlife campaigners dismantled claims that banning trophy hunting imports would scupper conservation schemes (Getty Images)

“There is insufficient evidence that trophy hunting contributes to conservation,” says the letter, seen by the Mirror.

“The vast majority of funds generated by trophy hunting never reach conservation programmes or local households.

“If and when they do, such funds are entirely negligible for conservation efforts compared to the damage inflicted by the industry through the irreversible loss of key natural resources.

“Funds that reach community level are too often syphoned off by the corrupt local elite or simply used for other purposes entirely unrelated to conservation.”

Signatories include former President of Botswana Ian Khama; Farai Maguwu, director of Centre for Natural Resource Governance, Zimbabwe; and David Kabambo, co-founder and executive officer of Tanzania’s Peace for Conservation.

Botswana's former President Ian Khama (AFP via Getty Images)

Zimbabwe Elephant Foundation founder Noma Dube said trophy hunting “creates major equity challenges for African rural communities”.

She added: “Every year trophy hunters deposit vast sums of money into foreign bank accounts of hunting companies in order to kill the biggest, rarest animals.

“That money never returns to African communities, and only a fraction of the amount paid for licence fees and permits is ever received by the communities whose land was set aside to create hunting concessions on the boundaries of national parks.

“In the case of elephants, when trophy hunters kill the biggest and often older animals, this typically leaves social groups destabilised which can significantly increase the likelihood of animals coming into conflict with nearby communities.

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“It is insulting to suggest that trophy hunting is in any way good for conservation or African communities.”

Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting’s acting chief executive Adam Cruise (Adam Cruise)

The Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting’s acting chief executive Adam Cruise said: “Any financial contribution that trophy hunting might provide for wildlife conservation or local community development is far outweighed by the harms it causes to wild animals, their populations, and local people.

“We urge members of the House of Lords to support the passage of the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill in its current form, and to reject any amendments aimed at undermining the scope or purpose of the Bill.”

Humane Society International’s campaigns director Claire Bass said: “Government officials, scientists, conservationists and community leaders from across the African continent have a clear message for the House of Lords - trophy hunters are robbing African countries of their most irreplaceable wildlife.

“We urge members of the House of Lords to put an end to this cruel colonial hangover, and protect threatened species by passing the Bill into law.”

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Ben Glaze