UK government announces ban on import of hunting trophies

Posted by Anita Froneman on 10 December 2021

The United Kingdom announced it will instate a ban on hunting trophies of endangered or threatened animals, including the Big Five. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) released a statement on December 10, saying the ban will be a step towards their conservation initiative to protect endangered animals.

‘Importing hunting trophies from thousands of endangered and threatened species, including lions, rhinos, elephants, and polar bears, is set to be banned,’ the statement read, however, no date has been confirmed as to when legislation will be implemented.

The ban will also cover over 1,000 additional species which are considered near-threatened or worse, such as African buffalo, zebra and reindeer.

According to the UK’s All-Parliamentary Group – a group aiming to put pressure on government to honour its 2019 commitment to ban trophies of endangered species – British hunters brought home 88 trophies of captive-bred lions over the past decade. British hunters have also reportedly imported more than 1,000 elephant trophies as well as over 1000kg in elephant tusks since the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) came into being.

‘More animal species are now threatened with extinction than ever before in human history and we are appalled at the thought of hunters bringing back trophies and placing more pressure on some of our most iconic and endangered animals,’ said the UK’s Environment Secretary George Eustice.

Dr Louise de Waal, Campaign Manager and Director of South African anti-captive breeding organisation Blood Lions also commented: ‘Such international importation bans on hunting trophies, including trophies from canned/”captive” lion hunts, support the recent decision by Minister Creecy and the subsequent release of the draft Policy Position paper to halt the domestication and exploitation of lion and close captive lion facilities – a real turning point in South Africa’s conservation policy.’

Earlier this year, The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) took crucial and long-awaited steps towards changing the status quo of the commercial captive lion breeding industry in South Africa. Minister Barbara Creecy announced that South Africa will no longer breed captive lions, keep lions in captivity, or use captive lions or their derivatives commercially going forward.

She has instructed her Department to put processes in place to halt the sale of captive lion derivatives; the hunting of captive-bred lions; tourist interactions with captive lions (including, so-called voluntourism, cub petting, and so on).

Picture: Blood Lions

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