So Proud of This Beauty I Destroyed

To say that trophy hunting is controversial is a big understatement.  It is often a last resort for conservancies that view it with disdain, but see the financial benefits as necessary to their work.  The two conservation views – complete ban or strictly controlled hunting – are at odds with a more painful third reality.  Nearly 12% of trophy animals exported across borders are from endangered species.  That is only the “trophies” for which a documented accounting has been compiled. 

Around 1.7m animal “trophies” have been exported across borders by hunters in the last decade, with at least 200,000 of them endangered species, according to a new report.

Don't they look lifelike?

 US hunters are by far the largest killers of trophy animals, including half of all the 11,000 lions shot in the last decade, the report found. The issue came to global attention in July 2015, after a US dentist paid more than $50,000 to kill a lion called Cecil, who was being tracked by conservation scientists.

The trophy-hunting industry is driven by demand and, sadly, demand for animal trophies is prevalent worldwide,” said Philip Mansbridge, director of Ifaw UK. “Even in the face of extinction, imperilled species are still being hunted every day in order to serve as the centrepiece of someone’s decor. It is unconscionable in this modern day where species are under so many threats to survive.”

We should be able to preserve wildlife without demanding blood sacrifices.