Last week US interior secretary Ryan Zinke, a hunter himself and a keen supporter of hunting policies, established an International Wildlife Conservation Council. It has a clear focus, the African Wildlife Foundation has pointed out, “on promoting the hunting industry, not conservation”. Hunting elephants is legal under strict permit systems in several African countries, and the revenue is crucial, some argue, for supporting conservation efforts. A petition to ban trophy hunting currently has 146,000 signatures. It is unfortunate that the Trump administration is willing to sacrifice that leadership position,” said Jeff Chrisfield, African Wildlife Foundation’s chief operating officer.

Source: The Irish Times November 16, 2017 19:07 UTC