“Every year, tens of thousands of wild animals worldwide are killed by trophy hunters with the aim of acquiring body parts of target animals as trophies – for example, full body mounts, tusks, horns, or skins. Rarer species are typically more expensive to shoot. Trophy hunters even target endangered and strictly protected species, such as elephants or rhinos. To justify this gruesome hobby, the hunting lobby puts forward arguments that do not stand up to scientific scrutiny. Conservation and animal welfare organisations refute the claims of the hunting lobby with ..read more

United Kingdom Hunting Trophy Imports On the 25 November 2022, the first reading of the Henry Smith MP’s “Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill” took place in the United Kingdom House of Commons – the bill passed unopposed to the next Committee Stage due 25 January 2023. The bill has the potential to prohibit hunting trophies form thousands of species into the United King The bill is a landmark achievement for all that campaigned for its passage through the parliamentary process – thanks to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) – Banning Trophy Hunting and all in the Coalition Aga ..read more

The Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill, sponsored by Henry Smith MP [draft bill published 23 November 2022] was debated before the United Kingdom House of Commons on 25 November 2022 [Parliament Live TV achieve (10:49 onwards)  link]. The bill will encompass the prohibition of import into the entire United Kingdom of the “body of an animal, or a readily recognisable part or derivative of an animal” from thousands of species/sub-species – as listed in Annex A or B [Link Annex A and B Species] of the Principal Wildlife Trade Regulation, subject to exceptions or addition at ..read more

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Banning Trophy Hunting today hosted an event at Westminster Hall, Houses of Parliament to launch a comprehensive report, full of insightful expert testimonies, facts and figures to support the proposed trophy hunting import ban into the United Kingdom. “Trophy Hunting & Britain: The Case for a Ban,” APPG on Banning Trophy Hunting, June 2022 Guest speakers included the Rt Hon George Eusitce MP (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)), His Excellency Seretse Khama Ian Khama (President, Botswana (2008 – 2018)), Jane Good ..read more

In last year’s review,  it was hoped that in 2021 we could start to return to some kind of ‘normality’ after Coronavirus (Covid-19) impacted the globe – it would seem we are still a long way from any guarantee of ‘normality,’ as the fight against the virus endures. On a brighter note, in recent weeks, there has been some welcomed recognition within the United Kingdom government of the negative impacts of trophy hunting with the promise of a comprehensive ban on the importation of hunting trophies permitted into the UK. United Kingdom Hunting Trophy Imports DEFRA’s “Consultation on control ..read more

Banner image: Outside UK Houses of Parliament, 9 December 2021 – Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting and supportive Members of Parliament This week, the United Kingdom (UK) Department for Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) finally released two important pieces of information: The proposed contents of the bill regarding the importation of hunting trophies: “Based on the results [of the consultation], we will be banning the import of hunting trophies from: species on Annex A and B of the UK Wildlife Trade Regulations; additional endangered and threatened species not covered by thes ..read more

Banner Image: 30 Lions Euthanised After Burning in Free State Fires. Photos supplied Original article link, “30 Lions Euthanised After Burning in Free State Fires in Shocking Animal Cruelty Case,” SA People News, 3 October 2021 Thirty captive lions on a private breeding farm in the Free State, South Africa, have had to be euthanised after the farm owner apparently left them suffering for days after wildfires had ravaged the area. Details issued by the Bloemfontein SPCA of the scene they discovered in the Glen/Brandfort district are harrowing and heartbreaking. Unable to escape the blazing flam ..read more

Hopefully, this chilling documentary will be on general release soon – highlighting the cruel commodification of thousands of tigers in South East Asia to profit from a gullible tourist industry, supply executed tigers for the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) industry and the trade in derivative tiger body parts….. The Tiger Mafia by Karl Ammann, Co-Director and Wildlife Traffic Investigator, and Laurin Merz, Co-Director and Producer. ​ Further Reading It’s not just SE Asia: “Tiger trafficking: the murky world of America’s big-money big cat trade,” The Guardian, 21 September 2021 “Tiger Br ..read more

A lion called Mopane was shot by a bowhunter on 5 August 2021 on a hunting concession bordering the unfenced Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. He was 12 years old and a breeding pride male. Original story, “Trophy hunters kill another breeding Hwange lion – Mopane,” Africa Geographic, 13 August 2021 What we know about the hunters: Information extracted from a Tweet by LionExpose! and confirmed via reliable sources: The trophy hunter who killed Mopane is Phillip Smith of Columbia, Missouri, United States. The professional hunter accompanying the hunt was Dennis Nyakane, working for C ..read more

After last year’s High-Level Panel (HLP) submission process in South Africa, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) released its HLP Report in May 2021. Among many proposals, the DFFE proposes to enhance the conservation of lion and rhino species in the wild by halting their commercially driven domestication/exploitation. This is warmly welcomed by all those seeking an enduring and irreversible track to the fair, ethical and moral treatment of South Africa’s wildlife/animals. The swift implementation of this halting of domestication of all exploited captive bred ..read more