I sent this to my MP - feel free to reuse it and send to yours.
Dear Mr Hinds,
I write to you as I understand that there is a bill which proposes to ban trophy hunting being read on Friday 17 March, and which I strongly and firmly believe should be rejected.
I fully appreciate and understand that trophy hunting (which is a misnomer in and of itself) is not a popular topic, nor indeed a vote winning one. I however strongly urge you to consider the science as opposed to the public optics, particularly as there are a great number of people against shooting and hunting but whom have never taken part in it, and know very little about it other than the editorialised version presented by the media.
Even the name “trophy hunting” is misleading. I am heavily and actively involved in deer management in the UK and I am yet to meet a person who does not understand the need for deer management when it is discussed, nor indeed welcome a piece of venison when offered. There seem to be very few people who object to an animal at the end of its life being humanely culled for the wider benefit of the population and its meat ending up on the table – if it is acceptable to kill an animal for food, welfare or conservation reasons, eats its meat and throw the inedible pieces in the bin, then it is sensationalism at its finest to say that actually making use of one of those inedible pieces in the form of hide or bone instead of binning them is somehow a “cruel thing” to do.
Furthermore, this private members bill is fundamentally flawed and unnecessary given that imports and exports are already regulated under existing CITES rules – rules which are designed to ensure that international trade in animals (and indeed plants) does not threaten their survival in the wild. Moreover, where these permits are given to import hunting trophies into the UK it is precisely because they have been certified as being harvested sustainably.
I would like to query if the MP presenting this bill has also provided a list of species and their country of residence where trophy hunting is having a negative impact?
The two biggest threats to wildlife anywhere in the world are loss of habitat and poaching – hunting tourism helps to mitigate both of these by attaching a monetary value to the animals in question, making them more valuable than the alternative use of the land such as farming. Hunting tourism also provides funds which go towards anti-poaching measures.
I would like to present the below benefits of sustainably managed trophy hunting:
- The land allocated to hunting tourism helps to protect many different species that wouldn't otherwise be protected. If hunting tourism were to be banned, this land would likely be transformed to generate the most money (probably for agriculture or pastoralism), having negative impacts on wildlife and reducing available habitat.
- Hunting tourism creates conservation incentives in places where ecotourism isn't viable because it's economically unfeasible or too remote.
- Hunting benefits local people via employment, money, and meat, reduces adverse animal/people contact (eg by keeping lion populations at a sustainable level and managing out the dangerous animals), and reduces poaching by providing meat that would have otherwise been poached.
- In most African countries conservation is underfunded, and many areas simply don't have the money to effectively manage wildlife without the significant revenue generated from hunting tourism.
- People managing hunting build and maintain waterholes and try to maximise wildlife populations to make it sustainable, whereas in ecotourism there's less need for large populations as a few individuals of a species are enough to make people happy and maximise profits.
- If the money goes to the right people, it provides incentives for local people to tolerate animals like lions which would otherwise be shot on sight.
- Hunting tourism has a smaller footprint than ecotourism; fewer people provide a higher revenue, meaning less flights, and hunters require less infrastructure, meaning habitat degradation is minimal. Additionally, hunters don't mind hunting in less attractive areas meaning more areas can facilitate hunting.
- Hunting tourism helps to provide an anti-poaching presence.
Instead of supporting this bill and giving it any more time I would encourage the government to continue to support the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund which supports projects around the world that are tackling the illegal wildlife trade and the truly devastating consequences of poaching.
If you would like to discuss this further, or indeed if you would like to come out with me one day to see what hunting and shooting is really about, then I am more than happy to do so - please just let me know.
