African grass roots conservation groups have accused the Government of modern day colonialism for attempting to ban the import of hunting trophies into the UK.
A Government-backed Bill to stop British hunters importing trophies will cut funding to local conservation efforts and take away incentives to preserve wildlife, the groups claim.
MPs will on Friday debate the Hunting Trophies Bill, which if passed will prevent British hunters bringing home game souvenirs such as heads and pelts.
The Bill has been nicknamed Sally’s Law after a tiger cub saved after being “bred for the bullet”, and has received widespread celebrity and cross-party backing.
But in an open letter to Andrew Mitchell, minister for Africa and Development, 109 representatives of community-run conservation areas in Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia, say the law will instead harm wildlife.
Income from carefully managed trophy hunting is needed to fund costly conservation efforts and without it, poaching and unemployment will increase, the authors say.
“It is sad to mention that we feel this is another way of recolonising Africa, with all the consequences that had befallen our forefathers,” according to the letter published in South Africa's Daily Maverick.
‘Utterly grim and cruel industry’
A ban has received high-profile backing from celebrities including Dame Judi Dench, Ricky Gervais, Liam Gallagher, and Dame Joanna Lumley.
Dame Joanna last month said British trophy hunters were the “lowest of the low”.
She said: “This is an utterly grim and cruel industry. Weasel words and twisted evidence will try to show the benefits of this hateful past-time. But, killing animals for fun is disgusting.
“Virtually everyone agrees that allowing people to bring home animal trophies from hunting holidays should be banned at once.”
However the Private Member’s Bill introduced by Henry Smith MP has angered governments in Southern Africa, who have written to Mr Mitchell complaining about a lack of consultation.
High Commissioners from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, South Africa and Namibia last week called for an urgent meeting with UK officials ahead of the vote on the Bill.
“While we recognise that the government’s intention with this Bill is to support conservation, it has the likelihood of reversing and inhibiting long established and sustainable conservation efforts in many African nations, including Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe,” they warned.
The open letter from community conservation areas says the Bill will “negatively impact both the conservation of wildlife and the livelihoods of our communities”.
Stopping trophy hunting will undermine incentives for rural communities to manage wildlife and increase conflict between animals and farmers, they write.
“With reduced revenue from trophy hunting, poaching will increase because there will be less funding to pay salaries to the community game guards for their anti-poaching patrols to deter poachers.”
British hunters are thought to import scores of trophies each year from hunting trips. In 2019, The Telegraph reported that 96 body parts, including elephant feet, polar bear skins and a rug from a lion, were shipped into Britain as trophies from hunting holidays in one year.
Groups campaigning for a ban on trophy hunting reject the notion that it helps conservation, saying that the money from hunters rarely reaches local communities or parks authorities.
