By Miriam Raftery
March 21, 2018 (Washington D.C.) – President Trump is drawing fire from wildlife protection groups for launching a “wildlife conservation council” with a mission to promote big-game trophy hunting, not preserve wildlife, Mother Jones magazine reports.
The Council is specifically tasked with eliminating or reducing limits on hunting and importing endangered species. Recently, Trump acted on the Council’s recommendation and overturned a ban on importing elephant and lion trophies such as ivory tusks or heads from animals killed by trophy hunters.
The Council’s members include members of a hunting club that includes Dr. Walter Palmer, a dentist made infamous on the internet for killing Cecil the lion, a beloved lion at a national park in Zimbabwe.
Members include a safari hunting guide on a reality TV show, gun industry representatives, trophy hunting group members, and a veterinarian tied to an exotic animal breeding facility that reportedly sells endangered animals to roadside zoos and hunting parks.
Masha Kalinina, international trade policy specialist for the Humane Society International calls the Council “embarrassing,” noting that the council does not include any legitimate representatives of the conservation community with scientific credentials and a record of successful conservation programs, nor are there any wildlife law enforcement experts or biologists not profiting off trophy hunting.
Comments
OPINIONS
Too bad facts don't matter
Too bad facts and some research don't matter to some commenters with little regard for sanity
https://africacheck.org/factsheets/factsheet-how-much-does-hunting-contr...
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe...
"The International Union for Conservation of Nature, an internationally recognized organization that sets the conservation statuses for species, supports this idea. “Well-managed trophy hunting can provide both revenue and incentives for people to conserve and restore wild populations, maintain areas of land for conservation, and protect wildlife from poaching,” its guiding principles say." link is below
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/151715-conservation-trophy-h...
http://www.conservationmagazine.org/2015/10/what-if-we-banned-trophy-hun...
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/03/070315-hunting-africa.html
People can have opinions and disagree, but the anti Trump sickness is obvious and destroys the credibility of, and casts doubt upon the sanity of those involved.
Trophy hunting of ENDANGERED animals is the real problem.
We're not talking about trophy hunting of deer, elk, impala, etc. or other animals that are plentiful.
No credible biologists or conservationists support trophy hunting of endangered species such as elephants, lions, rhinos and giraffes.
Polls have also shown that Americans overwhelmingly find trophy hunting objectionable, killing animals not for food, but purely for a lust for killing.
Also the term "anti-Trump sickness" is offensive and misleading. There are many legitimate reasons for people to oppose Trump or his actions, and those reasons are quite rational.
SHAMEFUL!