‘Over the past decade, 1.7 million animals have been killed by trophy hunters. That’s one every three minutes.’ Photo: courtesy of Habibur Rahman
On the hunt: ‘Animal hero’ Eduardo Gonçalves interviewed by Julie Hinman.
‘If we act on the premise that there is that of God in all creatures, we stand a chance.’
Why do people engage in trophy hunting?
Trophy hunting groups claim they are helping wildlife conservation and creating jobs for local people. Privately, they reveal their true motivations. They do it because they enjoy it and because they’re addicted to it. A British trophy hunter recently compared it to ‘mainlining on heroin’.
Over the past decade, 1.7 million animals have been killed by trophy hunters. That’s approximately one every three minutes. Some of our most endangered species are being shot every day just for ‘fun’.
Why is this not stopped?
The trophy hunting industry is rich and powerful. In recent years, Safari Club International has ploughed over $140 million into lobbying and has poured millions into the campaigns of high level US politicians, including the secretary of the interior – who is responsible for the USA’s hunting and trophy import laws.
The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) lobbies for trophy hunters within the US Congress. More than half of Congress are members of CSF.
‘Front’ groups pretending to be conservation organisations have joined the International Union for Conservation of Nature (the global organisation that produces the ‘Red List’ of endangered species). They have gained official status within the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The planet is suffering a mass extinction of non-human animals. Are some species exempt from being killed for trophies?
CITES prohibits trade in the most threatened species. Hunting trophies are exempted as ‘personal and household effects’.
There is clear evidence of the devastating impact of trophy hunting on many species, including lions. In the nineteenth century, African lions numbered 1.2 million. Today the official figure is 20,000, though some believe the true figure could be 10,000. The US government believes lions could be gone from the wild by 2050.
Big cat factory farms in South Africa breed lions and leopards for ‘canned hunting’. Is this more acceptable than killing wild animals?
There are several reasons why canned hunting is inexcusable. The animals are often crammed into horrifying, unsanitary conditions. There is multiple inbreeding, which causes painful deformities and diseases, including horrific neurological illnesses. Cubs are taken away from their mothers just after they’re born to generate large profits for ‘cub-petting’ facilities.
The ‘hunter’ who shoots a lion within a fenced-in enclosure from which it cannot possibly escape takes home the lion’s head and skin, and the bones are sold to traders who turn them into lion ‘wine’ for wealthy clients. Canned hunting is fuelling demand for such products, which in turn is prompting breeders to poach wild lions in order to take their young and bring them back to their facilities to ‘refresh’ their ‘stock’.
Despite many of the large trophy hunting companies claiming to be opposed to canned hunting, they now sell canned hunts of other species including tigers and zebras.
Who else benefits?
Trophy hunting perpetuates and reinforces exploitation commonly associated with colonialism and apartheid. The money goes primarily to the (white) farmers and (white-owned) hunting companies, which invariably employ white professional hunting guides.
The (mainly North American and European) taxidermy companies charge thousands of pounds to transform your lion or giraffe into an item of fashion or furniture, plus the international shipping companies charge similar amounts to deliver the finished trophy to your door.
Some money ends up in the hands of corrupt officials, while fees destined for government coffers are said by local politicians and villagers to disappear into what they call a ‘black hole’. Evidence suggests some senior African government figures are personally profiting from the industry.
What would happen to local economies if trophy hunting was stopped?
Ross Harvey, an African wildlife trade and economic analyst, presented his findings to the UK parliament in January 2020. It revealed that switching from trophy hunting to nature tourism would create eleven times as many jobs for South Africans, particularly those in poor rural areas.
Canada allows international hunters to shoot its polar bears for sport. Yet just one polar bear photographic tourism company generates more revenue for local communities and conservation than the entire polar bear hunting sector.
The jobs provided by nature tourism tend to be better-paid and year-round, contrasting with low-paid, seasonal labour from hunting.
Are there different approaches within African nations?
Kenya banned all trophy hunting in the 1970s. It has since developed a major home-grown nature tourism sector. This is generating significant revenues with which to fight poaching and enough money to provide a high-school education for every single Maasai child in the country. Elephants and other wildlife are increasing.Botswana banned trophy hunting in 2014 and now has one-third of all the world’s African elephants, twice as many as any other African nation. Unfortunately the new president has recently announced plans to bring back trophy hunting.
What action is CITES taking?
CITES is not a conservation treaty; it is a wildlife trade regulation agreement and, at its 2019 conference, trophy hunters were given permission to shoot double the number of critically-endangered black rhinos.
Recently, conservation and wildlife groups joined with cross-party MEPs to call on CITES to implement an immediate moratorium on trophy hunting of endangered species, which was ignored.
Is there any progress on stopping the trophy trade?
The Netherlands recently introduced a sweeping ban on all imports of hunting trophies. France and Australia have implemented partial bans. DHL and over forty airlines now refuse to handle trophy hunters’ spoils.
And the UK?
There has been very rapid movement on this in the UK.
The British people are clear on this issue. Eighty per cent of voters are opposed to trophy hunting. They want it banned and want the government to stop hunters bringing home their victims’ body parts. Asked specifically whether a ban should apply to all species or to endangered animals only, seventy-six per cent said it should be a universal ban. Fourteen per cent believe it should cover threatened species alone.
Two years ago, trophy hunting was nowhere on the political radar. At the 2019 general election, every major party had a manifesto commitment to ban the trade. The prime minister has tweeted his personal support for a ban and confirmed his pledge in parliament. The government is drafting legislation following a public consultation.
This has happened because the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting (CBTH) has galvanised public opinion, mustered a coalition of cross-party MPs, won the endorsement of the national media (ranging from The Times to the Daily Mirror), and has mobilised some of Britain’s most high-profile public figures. We have the backing of many community and conservation groups in Africa and around the world, too.
I believe we need an international treaty which abolishes trophy hunting. This is a primary objective of CBTH and something we are working with lawyers on.
Does CBTH collaborate with other groups?
CBTH has established a coalition with leading groups including Born Free, Humane Society International, the RSPCA, and many more. In January 2020, we jointly presented a petition with more than a million signatures to Downing Street. CBTH is also coordinating a coalition of European groups. We are part of a southern African lion coalition. Our aim is to start operations in the US shortly. This is critical, as over two-thirds of trophy hunters are from the US, despite the fact that the US general public is against it.
Can individuals avoid unknowingly contributing to trophy hunting?
There are a number of major brands that sponsor trophy hunting. I write about many of them in my first book, Trophy Hunters Exposed: Inside the big game industry. One of the highest-profile brands is Yamaha. Another is the company which owns Budweiser beer. There are a number of banking and finance groups and even wine labels that put money into trophy hunting lobbying. The US Boy Scouts have a partnership with Safari Club International, as does the US Salvation Army, which encourages children to take up trophy hunting.
Is there a spiritual/ethical aspect to this for you?
For me, this issue is fundamentally a spiritual and ethical one. To quote Desmond Tutu: ‘It is a kind of theological folly to suppose that God has made the entire world just for human beings, or to suppose that God is interested in only one of the millions of species that inhabit God’s good Earth.’
In his wonderful book The Inner Life of Animals, Peter Wohlleben reveals new studies which show that non-human animals are sapient, as well as sentient.
Trophy hunting reflects a wider malaise about humanity’s relationship with the earth. The fact that we feel able to exploit, purposely hurt and destroy living entities for nothing more than entertainment goes a long way towards explaining the catastrophic collapse in biodiversity we are witnessing and our abject failure to respond to the climate change challenge in a manner commensurate with its enormity.
If we are to have any hope of surviving, let alone thriving, we need to fundamentally alter course. If we accept and act on the premise that there is that of God in all living creatures, we stand a chance.
What sort of human race do we want to be? Do we want to have no space – either in our hearts or in our natural home – for the fellow travellers we share this planet with? Or do we want to joyfully celebrate the richness of our miraculous earth and the light that burns brightly in all living things?
We treat our living planet as an inanimate resource to use as we please, regardless of the consequences. We have no right to torture or take the life of a fellow living creature for pleasure. The targeted animal is killed not for food or in self-defence but to satisfy human vanity.
What is your hope and vision for the future?
I’m hopeful not least because the vast majority of people agree trophy hunting is a shameful relic of the past. There are exciting new developments. Colombia has banned all so-called ‘sport’ hunting. It follows a court decision which upheld the argument that killing animals for pleasure conflicted with provisions in its constitution concerning the welfare of animals and wildlife conservation. The magistrate Antonio Jose Lizarazo said simply: ‘Animals are not things, they are beings with feelings.’
In Africa, the Akashingas – Zimbabwe’s all-female anti-poaching unit – is taking over land previously used for trophy hunting. Their project has generated more revenue for people and conservation in thirty-four days than trophy hunting did in a year.
I believe that the banning of trophy imports by the UK will be an international tipping point. It was the British who ‘invented’ modern trophy hunting and exported it to its African and Indian colonies. It would be of enormous significance for Britain to close this chapter in its history and send a loud message around the world that it’s time to end this senseless slaughter.
You have written widely on this subject. What are your main messages?
Trophy Hunters Exposed: Inside the big game industry introduces the reader to the inner workings of the industry and explores the psychology of trophy hunting and its links to other serious crimes. Killing Game: The extinction industry focuses on the terrible impact of trophy hunting from the colonial era to the present day and reveals what Africans really think about the issue. Trophy Leaks: Top hunters and industry secrets revealed shows the extraordinary kill tallies of some of the world’s top hunters, and the array of prizes that encourage them to kill more animals each year. The book also lifts the lid on some of the underhand operations the industry has funded to try to deceive governments.
I hope these books shine a light on what is happening and what we can do to stop it.
