US reverses elephant trophy ban, sparking outrage among conservationists and fury at Trump sons’ hunting past
During the 2016 campaign, images re-emerged of Eric and Donald Trump Jnr on a 2011 trip posing with animals they had killed on safari including an elephant, a buffalo and a leopard
The Trump administration’s decision to loosen restrictions around the import of elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia has turned attention back to the president’s family’s own connection to the controversial sport.
Donald Trump Jnr and Eric Trump are prolific big game hunters and during the 2016 campaign, images re-emerged of the pair on a 2011 hunting trip posing with animals they had killed on safari including an elephant, a buffalo and a leopard.
The images of Trump’s sons smiling with dead animals sparked a wave of criticism, with actress Mia Farrow writing on Twitter: “What went so wrong with Trump sons that they could kill this beautiful creature.”
But Trump Jnr told Forbes in 2012 that outrage over the images of him and his brother was misplaced. Forbes columnist Frank Miniter said Trump Jnr had told him: “elephants are overpopulated in the area the Trumps hunted and so need to be hunted to prevent them from further destroying their habitat.”
Conservationists argue that elephants numbers are in sharp decline due to human encroachment and poaching, and trophy hunts fuel the demand for wild animal products.