Maria Caulfield, Member of Parliament for Lewes, has today supported a bill in Parliament which aims to ban the import of hunting trophies from around 6,000 species, including lions, elephants, rhinos, and polar bears.
This builds on the Government’s world-leading Ivory Act which came into force in 2022, introducing a near-total ban on the import, export and dealing of items containing elephant ivory in the UK.
An estimated 25,000 trophy animals have been brought into the UK since the 1980s. Trophy hunting increases the threats endangered species face, with its impact for example on African lion populations – which have declined from an estimated 200,000 in the 1970s to less than 20,000 today – found to be the “single most significant effect” according to Oxford University research.
In 2019, the Government held a consultation on the scale and impact of the import and export of hunting trophies. Over 44,000 responses to the call for evidence and consultation were received and 85 per cent of responses were in favour of further action. Following the consultation, the Government made a manifesto commitment to ban the import of hunting trophies from endangered animals.
The Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill is a private members bill passed its second reading today, 22nd March 2024 and will now progress through the remaining parliamentary stages.
Commenting on the bill, Maria Caulfield MP said:
“It is important that the government delivers on it’s manifesto commitment to ban the import of hunting trophies from endangered animals, I was very pleased to be able to vote to support this bill today to do just that and I hope it swiftly becomes law”