While the U.S. has a well-deserved reputation as the trophy hunter capital of the world, the United Kingdom is a close second in participants in this egregiously violent sport. Between 2015 and 2019 alone, British hunters brought home approximately 5,000 hunting trophies, and roughly a fifth of those were from endangered species. But British people are changing their minds about trophy hunting, and the majority think it unnecessarily hurts wild animals. It doesn't have to be this way, and a proposed bill hopes to dramatically reduce trophy hunting imports.
Sign now to demand that the UK Parliament fast track the trophy hunting imports ban!
The proposed ban not only includes the 6,000 animals that are threatened by international trade, but an additional 1,000 species whose protection status is near-threatened or worse. This includes iconic, charismatic megafauna such as rhinos, polar bears, and elephants. Some of these species, such as the African savanna elephant, whose population has decreased by over half in the past 50 years, are experiencing such dramatic declines that some scientists worry they could go extinct before the next century begins. But this ban on trophy hunt imports has the potential to help stop that.
Crucially, though, this vital piece of legislation has the potential to protect not just individual species, but entire ecosystems that depend on their grazing and/or predation patterns. This ban is about protecting animal welfare and preserving vital ecosystems!
Unfortunately, this ban was announced two years ago, and it may not come to parliament until the upcoming spring or summer. But innocent endangered animals cannot wait for this ban to take effect any longer – hundreds have died in the waiting period already. Sign the petition demanding that the UK Parliament fast track this ban now! Any more time wasted means more animals unnecessarily killed!