House Democrats released a report Monday demonstrating that trophy hunting has done more harm than good, just ahead of the one-year anniversary of the killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe.
“The findings have major implications for endangered species protection and come a few days before the July 1 one-year anniversary of the killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe by American dentist Walter Palmer,” said a statement from House Democrats on the Natural Resources Committee.
The death of the beloved lion last July sparked international outrage among animal rights groups, who demanded justice after Palmer shot the animal while on a hunting trip in Africa. Palmer’s guides agreed to bring him to shoot a lion while in Zimbabwe, without informing him that the big cat they picked for him to shoot was a prized national attraction and seen as a local treasure.
Several wildlife preserves in Africa say they have worked to increase the numbers of endangered species, and that hunting can be done in a controlled way that helps fund the preservation parks and maintain healthy herds. But the Democrats aren’t buying that rationale.
The report, entitled “Missing The Mark: African trophy hunting fails to show consistent conservation benefits,” argues that hunted species of animals, including lions, leopards, elephants and black rhinos, have suffered due to a combination of African countries’ lax conservation enforcement, and frequent failures by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to demand relevant information before approving trophy hunting imports under the Endangered Species Act.
“Today’s report shows that while trophy hunting has benefited at-risk species in rare circumstances, most hunts cannot be considered good for a species’ survival,” said Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., ranking member on Natural Resources. “Taking that claim at face value is no longer a serious option.”
“Anyone who wants to see these animals survive needs to look at the evidence in front of us and make some major behavior and policy changes,” Grijalva added. “Endangered and threatened species are not an inexhaustible resource to be killed whenever the mood strikes us.”
