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Reality check? Or should we call this an absurdity check?
Michael Gove, the current UK Secretary of State for Environment, said that he would not be banning imports from trophy hunting yet, said it was a "delicate political balancing act", and said that he had been advised by wildlife charities to "be cautious" in following other countries in outlawing imports from the controversial sport.
Well, well. This is despite hundreds of thousands of people signing petitions to ban trophy hunting imports. This is despite over 80% of the UK public being opposed to trophy hunting. Shouldn’t this matter to Michael Gove?
I wonder what he means by a “delicate political balancing act”. Who in the world could he be listening to? Not the public. Not the petitions.
The BBC says that “Trophy hunting is the shooting of carefully selected animals, including some endangered species, under strict government controls.” Really?
So who are these “charities” urging Gove to continue trophy hunting imports? Can they be named? Meanwhile we strongly oppose their pro-trophy hunting premise.
There is no “well regulated trophy hunting”. It is all about corrupt practices, overhunting, greed, hiding profits overseas to avoid local taxes. In Tanzania alone, over 70% of hunting concessions are defunct because the operators shot out everything on four legs – no regulation.
Why is Michael Gove is still sitting on the fence? Given all the information about captive bred lion hunting horrors? Given all the information in a recent UN report to say that a million species are facing destruction and death? Given that trophy hunting has failed in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia to provide conservation benefits?
As for taking income away from African communities – individual community members don’t earn from trophy hunter handouts as much in a year as much as Michael Gove spends daily on a cup of coffee from Starbucks.
Please wake up and smell the coffee.
LionAid has over 360,000 signatories (growing) on our petition to ban lion trophy hunting imports into the UK.
How many signatories are there on any petition to maintain trophy hunting imports into the UK? Over to you Mr Gove.
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