We must act now to ban trophy hunting
When I tell people about my bill to ban British trophy hunters bringing home their victims, I am sometimes met with a quizzical glance. 'Isn’t that an American thing?' they ask.
It is easy to understand why some people think this. We all remember the American dentist who killed Cecil the lion. We see the American hunters who post pictures on social media celebrating after killing a giraffe.
But British trophy hunters have killed thousands of elephants, lions, hippos, leopards, zebras and other animals which CITES – the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species – say are at risk of extinction.
We are not just talking about colonial-era British hunters like John Alexander Hunter – a Scot who died in the 1960s and who shot 1,400 elephants, 1,000 rhinos and 600 lions during his career.
A British man from Gloucester recently came runner-up in the Weatherby Award, considered the ‘Oscar’ of the trophy hunting world. He is thought to have single-handedly killed hundreds of animals. He won a special industry prize for killing animals from over 125 different species.
The American gun lobby has voted a British woman from London the world’s top female trophy hunter. She has shot some of the biggest lions and elephants ever known to exist.
The home of a British man from Sussex features in an industry book about the world’s most ‘impressive’ trophy collections. Among the animals he has killed are a black rhino, an animal classified as Critically Endangered on the Red List published by IUCN – the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
British trophy hunters are shooting many other species at serious risk of disappearing altogether. They include cheetahs, which have vanished from 98 per cent of their range. There are just 6,500 left. They have killed polar bears, a species that could soon die out thanks to climate change.
The list of animals British hunters are shooting for trophies goes on and on – giraffes, seals, otters, walruses, monkeys, even wild sheep. There are even British-owned firms selling ‘hunting holidays’ on the internet – where you can go on a luxury trip to shoot dozens of different animals for fun.
In 2019, the Conservative government announced it would bring in a bill to ban British hunters from bringing home their sickening spoils. It became an election manifesto commitment and was set out in Parliament in the Queen’s Speech.
An extensive public consultation followed – over 40,000 experts, groups and members of the public had their say. No fewer than 86 per cent agreed it was time to act. An opinion poll showed an identical number of voters wanted a ban brought in immediately.
This is an issue that cuts across party or ideological divides. The Labour manifesto included a near-identical commitment at the last election. The Liberal Democrat leader has spoken strongly in support.
The bill I am bringing forward has the support of MPs and Lords from every party in Parliament – the SNP, the DUP, Plaid Cymru, the SDLP, the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, the Alba Party and the Greens. Rarely has there been such clear agreement between politicians and the public on any subject!
There are already similar prohibitions in place – Australia, France, the Netherlands and even the US have all introduced restrictions. Belgium and Finland have announced they are about to follow suit.
The British ban, however, will be the toughest in the world. The list of species covered is comprehensive. Jail terms await those who try to smuggle their trophies in.
This sends a strong signal to the world that it is time to stop killing endangered animals for entertainment. It will help remove one of the many pressures facing wild animals today.
There are those, of course, who are trying to block a ban. The American gun lobby funded a £1 million dirty tricks campaign to trick MPs and Ministers into thinking Africans are opposed to a UK ban. It was exposed as the work of a sole pro-hunt activist and was promptly shut down by Facebook and Twitter.
Studies and surveys show the majority of Africans are aghast at the idea of rich foreigners killing their animals for fun that they aren’t allowed to hunt for food.
Sir David Attenborough says he finds trophy hunting “incomprehensible.” Trophy hunting is immoral, cruel and utter madness at a time when we face a global extinction emergency. We can’t ban what goes on in Africa – but we can certainly do our bit and stop British people making the problem worse.
Henry Smith is the Conservative MP for Crawley.
