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Animal activists outraged by Trump lifting big game trophy ban

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Animal activists are appalled the Trump administration is allowing big game hunters in Zimbabwe and Zambia to import their elephant trophies back to the US —…
Animal activists are appalled the Trump administration is allowing big game hunters in Zimbabwe and Zambia to import their elephant trophies back to the US — and some groups are considering taking legal action.
The move, which was announced this week by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service at a meeting in South Africa co-hosted by the pro-hunting group Safari Club International, reverses a ban passed by the Obama administration.
Remains of elephants legally hunted in the two African nations can now be imported to the US through 2018 as long as hunters obtain permits.
“It is disgusting and, likely, illegal,” wrote Elly Pepper, deputy director of the National Resources Defense Counsel’s Wildlife Trade Initiative.
“Our lawyers are looking hard at this and we’re weighing our options—fortunately, we saw it coming and are prepared to do whatever it takes to stop it.”
A spokesperson for PETA said the animal rights group is also examining its legal options “as to what next steps to take.”
African elephants are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act — but the act allows the import of trophies if there’s evidence that hunting them supports conservation efforts.
Fish and Wildlife has said that trophy hunting can “benefit the conservation of certain species by providing incentives to local communities to conserve the species and by putting much-needed revenue back into conservation.”
“We are now able to find that African elephant trophy hunting in Zimbabwe will enhance the survival of the species in the wild,” the agency said in a statement .
According to the Great Elephant Census project, the African elephant population has declined 6 percent in Zimbabwe in recent years.
“PETA has been challenging this policy for years and will continue to do so until the government recognizes that selling a threatened animal’s life to raise money for ‘conservation’ is like selling a child on the black market to raise money to fight child molestation,” PETA Foundation Vice President Delcianna Winders said.
Masha Kalinina, an international trade policy specialist with Humane Society International, said local communities often don’t see the money that comes from allowing trophy hunting on communal lands.
“When you don’t have resources reaching these communities, they don’t want to continue living with elephants,” she said.
A report commissioned by HSI showed that in several African countries — including Zambia and Zimbabwe — trophy hunting accounts for only .78 percent of overall tourism spending.
“Tourism dwarfs anything that trophy hunting contributes to these economies,” Kalinina said.
She added that her organization was “shocked” that the decision was announced at a closed-door meeting “between pro-trophy hunting interests” — and first made public by Safari Club International.
“It’s unprecedented,” she told The Post. “It shows who’s behind the wheel here.”
News of the policy reversal prompted a slew of Twitter protests, with many sharing infamous images of President Trump’s sons proudly posing with dead animals during big game hunting trips in Africa.
In one photo, Donald Trump Jr. holds up a dead elephant’s tail in one hand, and a knife in the other.
Kalinina said hunters are already “ecstatic” over the news.
“They are celebrating, and I already have seen advertisements on the websites of outfitters for elephant hunts saying, ‘Hey now you can import your trophies, so don’t worry,” she explained.

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