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US Fish and Wildlife Service informed some hunters Last month, it would authorize the importation of six elephant booty from Zimbabwe into the United States. African elephant carcasses will be allowed into the country for the first time in five years.
The decision reversed an agency-wide hold on the processing of elephant trophy import permits that had been put in place during the Trump administration in November 2017 and have since prevented the importation of elephant tusks, tails or feet into the country.
The comeback is the result of a September 2021 deal with the Dallas Safari Club, a major hunting organization. to sue Trump administration in December 2019 to pause trophy clearance processing. The Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism was also a plaintiff in the case. Under the deal, the Fish and Wildlife Department must process 73 other pending permit applications, along with the permits of the 11 fishermen named in the case. This could potentially lead to additional trophies being brought into the US from countries that allow limited hunting of elephants for sport.
According to a Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson, both parties “negotiated an agreement that they deemed to be in the public interest and a fair, equitable, adequate and equitable settlement of the disputes set forth in the plaintiffs’ complaint.”
The service’s decision to settle the case remains a longstanding dispute between hunters and biodiversity experts. Is trophy hunting beneficial or harmful to big game species?especially Endangered animals such as two species of African elephants. It has also sparked criticism from activists and biodiversity groups who question why the agency did not oppose the lawsuit or reinstate a similar ban introduced during the Obama administration.
They point out that the move goes against President Biden. commitment in campaign trail to limit hunting imports. Critics also say the Biden administration’s submission to lawsuits left over from the Trump administration is the latest in a series of confusing steps. investment In more protection under the Endangered Species Act, such as the protection of more gray wolves. They argue that these actions show that Mr. Biden has not kept his word on environmental priorities.
“We were expecting the Biden administration to stop everything, look carefully and maybe make some tough decisions that given the biodiversity crisis this is not something we need to do,” said Tanya Sanerib, senior attorney at the Center for Biodiversity. “So the fact that the reality is the opposite of that feels like whiplash.”
For trophy hunters and big game groups, the comeback came as a long delayed win.
“It’s a conservation victory, because in many of these places where elephants live, habitat is provided solely by hunting dollars,” said Lane Easter, 57, an equine veterinarian in Texas, who was approved under the agreement under the deal. Zimbabwe hunt in 2017.
Most bounty hunters from the United States. Under the federal Endangered Species Act, hunters must provide proof before importing a trophy that killing the animal aids the “positive development” of a species.
The Fish and Wildlife Service’s view that preceded Mr Biden’s election is that trophy hunting can qualify as species enhancement if it is “lawful, well-regulated hunting as part of a robust management program”, the agency spokesperson said.
Big game hunters say the money they spend on hunting is then invested in rehabilitating the species, preventing poaching by economically benefiting nearby communities. They also say that hunting certain animals, such as elephants and lions, can benefit overall herd health.
Hunters can spend more than $40,000 on an African hunt in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zambia and Namibia, and many win their rights through bidding wars held at national conferences like the Safari Club International’s annual convention.
But groups like the Humane Society International say hunting a species does not benefit its survival, and the Fish and Wildlife Service should not allow paid hunting to qualify as a method of species improvement, especially on animals the United States considers threatened. The International Union for Conservation of Nature revised it in 2021. listing To highlight that both African elephant species are at higher risk of extinction.
Critics also say there is little evidence that money paid for a hunt ultimately helps the species recover, especially when corruption has been found to be rampant in many countries where African elephants live.
“There is no evidence that trophy hunting advances a species’ conservation,” said Teresa Telecky, a zoologist and vice president of wildlife at the Humane Society International.
When Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, big game hunters hoped it would be easier to import elephant trophies. A week before Thanksgiving in 2017, the Fish and Wildlife Service reversed an Obama-era ban, allowing hunters to import elephant trophies from several African countries. The news is that even Mr. Trump’s staunch allies are in the motion”scary hunting of elephants”
Just 24 hours later, Mr Trump said he would tweet. put the decision “on hold”. After that tweet not a single elephant award has been confirmed For import into the United States.
“The president repealed the law in a tweet because he found trophy hunting distasteful,” said George Lyon, attorney representing the Dallas Safari Club.
So far, the wildlife service said it has received eight permits. In addition to the six he allowed, he refused two and is expected to manage more in the coming months. Mr. Lyon estimated that as of last September, he expects to process up to 300 elephant trophy permits from various African countries.
Mr. Easter says he wasted no time enjoying his legal victory. Your elephant’s tusks are already being prepared to be sent home to Texas.
“They’re going to hang in the living room of my house, and I’ll remember that elephant for the rest of my life,” he said.
He has another trophy hunt in Africa booked for August.
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