Trophy hunters have shipped grisly souvenirs of 300,000 threatened wild animals round the world in the past decade.
The sickening trade in items such as skulls, horns and tusks includes 40,000 from African elephants, 14,000 from lions and 8,000 from leopards.
The Born Free Foundation released the figures to mark the fourth anniversary of the killing of 13-year-old Cecil the lion, shot dead with an arrow in Zimbabwe.
The big cat’s death in Hwange National Park caused worldwide outrage and led to hunter Walter Palmer, a US dentist, receiving death threats.
Born Free chief Howard Jones said: “Animals belong in the wild, not on a wall – and we want a future where no animal suffers the agonising death inflicted on Cecil.
“We campaign tirelessly and work with airlines, travel and shipping firms to ban the transportation of hunting trophies, whilst putting pressure on the UK and other governments to in- troduce a ban on their import.”
There are estimated to be just 400,000 elephants and 20,000 lions left in the wild.
