The new Environment Secretary is backing our drive to ban trophy hunting.
Theresa Villiers praises the Mirror for highlighting the sick trade in animals shot for pleasure. And she has vowed to continue action announced by her predecessor Michael Gove.
Ms Villiers said: “The call for evidence into international trade in hunting trophies between the UK and other countries which he announced will be something I will be considering very carefully in the coming months.”
Our End Trophy Hunting campaign is demanding an immediate ban on the import of animals shot for pleasure.
Eduardo Goncalves, of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, said Ms Villiers’ support was “welcome”. But he urged her to place an “immediate moratorium” on import permits for hunting trophies.
It's not just exotic African beasts under threat from trigger-happy hunting enthusiasts.
Last week we revealed British trophy hunters are flocking to Iceland to shoot up to 100 puffins at a time - before bringing the carcasses back home.
The hunting trips to the peaceful Nordic country are being sold for £3,000 a piece, despite puffins being classified as an vulnerable species last year.
In a bid to catch the public's attention, the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting published photos of the hunters posing with dozens of their lifeless trophies.
The population of Icelandic puffins has has plummeted from seven million to 5.4 million in a decade.
And Fair Isle, in the Shetlands, has seen its population of the iconic birds halve - from 20,000 to 10,000 - in the last 30 years.
Nearly 600,000 puffins live in the UK, representing roughly a tenth of the world population.
Sir Roger Gale, the chairman of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, blasted the puffin-hunting, describing it as "abhorrent" .
He told the Telegraph : "I don’t believe in trophy hunting at all for any species. I don’t think there is any excuse for it.
"I believe there is much more tourism to be generated by preservation and conservation rather than by killing puffins."
