Trump Administration Lifts Trophy-Hunting Ban For Some Elephants And Lions

46:40

March 21, 2018

In this photo taken Friday, Sept. 30, 2016, an elephant walks through the bush at the Southern African Wildlife College on the edge of Kruger National Park in South Africa. As teams of poachers stalk rhinos and elephants in the park, wildlife officials are turning to nearby communities to help stop the slaughter by using local knowledge to deter poachers, not join them. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

With Kimberly Atkins

The Trump administration lifts the trophy ban on some elephants and lions. Is it now open season for hunters?

Guests:

Michael Biesecker, investigative reporter for the Associated Press. (@mbieseck)

Masha Kalinina, international trade policy specialist, Humane Society International. (@mkalinina2014)

Chris Hudson, member of the International Wildlife Conservation Council.

From The Reading List:

Associated Press: Trump Wildlife Protection Board Defends Trophy Hunting — "Big-game hunters tapped by the Trump administration to help rewrite federal rules for importing the heads and hides of African elephants and lions as trophies defended the practice Friday, arguing that threatened and endangered species would go extinct without the anti-poaching programs funded in part by the fees wealthy Americans pay to shoot some of them."

Big game trophy hunting – is it a “horror show,” as President Trump once described? Or does it have economic and conservation benefits, as members of a new Trump administration panel say? The administration is under fire for lifting an Obama-era ban on importing elephant and lion game hunting trophies to the US, and filling an advisory board with pro-hunting advocates. And now animal welfare groups have filed suit.
This hour, On Point: Taking aim at trophy hunting.
--Kimberly Atkins

This program aired on March 21, 2018.