Let’s Ban Trophy Hunting
Content warning – this blog contains potentially distressing content
Eduardo Goncalves argues that destroying Creation for “entertainment” is wrong and we should support efforts to stop it happening.
In 2015, there was worldwide outrage over the killing of a lion by an American trophy hunter. Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer shot Cecil with a bow and arrow, and left him to die – so he could collect a special industry award.
But British trophy hunters are shooting lions too. Since Cecil was killed, they have killed an estimated 100 Lions.
Indeed, the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting has tracked down dozens of British trophy hunters. Many of them are shooting endangered animals – elephants, cheetahs, rhinos, polar bears, leopards, and hippos.
One told us he enjoyed having a few beers in the evening and shooting monkeys out of trees. Another told us he took his 9-year-old son along for his birthday. He shot so many animals he earned a nickname: “The Sniper”.
Others talk gleefully about the appalling injuries they inflict on their victims – lung blood ‘bubbling’ from mouths, the satisfying sound of bullets tearing through bones and muscle, and worse.
Some are responsible for staggering numbers of kills. A Gloucestershire property developer has killed an estimated 650 animals. He has won multiple awards from the same group as Walter Palmer – including one for killing animals from 125 different species.
A woman from London has been voted the world’s top female trophy hunter. She too has killed hundreds of animals, including some of the world’s largest lions and elephants.
A man from Sussex says trophy hunting is so addictive it is “like mainlining on heroin”. Among his proudest trophies is a black rhino – a critically endangered animal.
A TV presenter told us about a hippo he had shot – to use as bait to lure leopards into a trap. Another hunter showed us his collection of nearly 500 trophies – including a Polar bear.
UK companies are making a killing – literally – selling animals for British trophy hunters to shoot. They include captive-bred lions they can shoot in enclosures. There are “package deals” where hunters can shoot multiple animals such as tame lionesses, giraffes and rhinos.
In 2018, I stepped down as CEO of the League Against Cruel Sports and launched the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting. As a Quaker and green Christian, I believe every living creature has an equal right to live on this Earth. And I believe that destroying Creation for “entertainment” is not only wrong – we must stand up to those perpetrating it.
We have now persuaded virtually every party in Parliament to support a ban on hunters’ trophies. Indeed, a Conservative Government bill passed unanimously in the Commons – but was filibustered in the Lords and ran out of time when the election was called.
Labour made a manifesto pledge to ban hunting trophies – but frustratingly refuses to say when.
As we approach the 10th anniversary of Cecil’s death, now is surely the time to bring this grotesque colonial industry to an end.
You can stand against this cruelty by signing Eduardo’s petition at BanTrophyHunting.org
Eduardo Goncalves is author of Trophy Hunters Exposed, Killing Game, Trophy Leaks, Undercover Trophy Hunter, and Saving Sally – the story of a daring rescue of a tiger cub bred for the bullet.
Comments on "Let’s Ban Trophy Hunting"
anthony roper:
It seems very bad motivation that would make a person kill any of God's creatures especially wild ones. I confess that in the past I have killed a few but now feel very sorry for that action. For a number of years I have neither killed or had someone else kill an animal for my enjoyment.
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