Whilst I am not an advocate of hunting, I can see a commercial argument for it in marginalised areas. However, I was nevertheless very disappointed to read yesterday that the Trump administration will allow American hunters to import elephant trophies to the US, reversing an Obama-era 2014 ban.
A US Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman said the move will allow the two African countries – Zambia and Zimbabwe – to include US sport hunting as part of their management plans for the elephants and allow them to put “much-needed revenue back into conservation.”
Why am I disappointed if hunting can do good for conservation?
In part, it is the hunters’ conceited theatrical rituals, the get-up and the vocab – similar to those displayed in hunting (for foxes) here in the UK. In spite of the overall disappointment with http://trophyfilm.com/, there are parts of the film that are impossible to watch without fuming at the grotesque, pampered hunters who preen themselves over the animals’ corpses. I don’t see the difference between one national being allowed an elephant head on his or her wall and another national not being allowed to have an ivory carving on his or her mantelpiece.
But much more importantly, there is a better way. Photographic and conservation safaris.
We are guardians of the planet and its wildlife for future generations.
