Studies have shown that the vast majority of Americans oppose trophy hunting. This opposition cuts across partisan lines; people from all walks of life and from all points on the political spectrum recognize trophy hunting for the brutal and archaic practice that it is. Yet, public opinion about trophy hunting and government policy are at odds. It is past time for this to change.
The U.S. Is the World’s Top Wildlife Trophy Importer
The United States is the top importer of wildlife trophies. Between 2005 and 2014, more than 1.26 million wildlife trophies from more than 1,200 species were imported to the United States, including approximately 5,600 African lions, 4,600 African elephants, 4,500 African leopards, 330 southern white rhinos, and 17,200 African buffalo. Americans import more trophy items from endangered and threatened CITES-listed species than the next highest nine countries combined. These figures alone are staggering, and they do not even include the animals killed in trophy hunts within the U.S.
The U.S. Government Facilitates and Encourages Trophy Hunting
A large part of the incentive to take part in trophy hunting is the possibility of obtaining and retaining a trophy item from the kill – the animal’s head, paws, teeth, or other body part. The U.S. government facilitates this by issuing wildlife trophy import permits, allowing hunters to bring the victims’ parts back to the U.S. with them.
How You Can Help
It is time for U.S. policy regarding trophy hunting to align with public opinion. You can speak out and take action in four ways:
1. Write to your lawmakers in the support of the CECIL Act, which would address the slaughter of imperiled wildlife by trophy hunters by, alongside other provisions, reinstating an Obama-era rule prohibiting the import of elephant and lion trophies from certain countries.
2. Write to your lawmakers in support of the ProTECT Act, which would amend the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to prohibit taking endangered or threatened species in the United States as a trophy and the importation of any endangered or threatened species as a trophy into the United States.
3. Sign our petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, asking the agency to cease issuing trophy import permits.
4. Share this blog on social media to spread the word about the role the U.S. plays in trophy hunting and the ways citizen can take action!
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Julie
