How Trump's wildlife board is rebranding trophy hunting as good for animals (newspeak on parade)

[niyad]

How Trump’s wildlife board is rebranding trophy hunting as good for animals

As hunters hold immense clout in the Trump administration and most of the council’s members are advocates of the sport, critics worry the board will protect their hobby, not the animals

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Donald Trump Jr on a hunting trip in Zimbabwe. Photograph: Hunting Legends

Donald Trump has called big-game trophy hunting a “horror show”, despite his own sons’ participation in elephant and leopard hunts, and in 2017 he formed an advisory board to steer US policy on the issue.But rather than conservation scientists and wildlife advocates, it is composed of advocates for the hunting of elephants, giraffes and other threatened, charismatic species. And observers say that since Trump took office, court rulings and administrative decisions have in fact made it easier for hunters to import the body parts of lions, elephants and other animals killed in Africa. Members of Trump’s advisory board, called the International Wildlife Conservation Council (IWCC), argue that the sport, in which wealthy hunters pay tens of thousands of dollars to shoot endangered megafauna, is a laudable method of conservation abroad.


“This council will be focused on making hunting a better tool for conservation,” said John Jackson III, a member of the IWCC and founder of Conservation Force, an international hunting non-profit. Only two of the council’s 16 members are not active advocates for trophy hunting – the rest belong to groups such as Safari Club International and the National Rifle Association. Instead of discussing whether the sport should be limited, the group is focusing on how to broaden its reach.

Awareness of trophy hunting has increased thanks to social media. In 2015, a Minnesota dentist ignited debate when he shot Cecil, an enormous, black-maned lion immensely popular with camera-wielding tourists and a focus of research. More recently, a Kentucky woman has been criticized for triumphantly posing next to a giraffe she killed; conservationists estimate giraffe populations have fallen 40% since 1990.

Trophy hunters hold immense clout in the Trump administration. The president’s sons, Donald Jr and Eric, frequently hunt in Africa. And the hunting advisory council operates under the auspices of the interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, who received $10,000 from the Safari Club during his 2016 congressional campaign. The lopsided composition of the council has critics worried its decisions will protect their chosen pastime, not the animals.
Walter Palmer, right, with one of his kills – a White Rhino. He also hunted and killed Cecil, an enormous, black-maned lion popular with tourists and a focus of research, in 2015 in Zimbabwe.

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Walter Palmer, right, with one of his kills – a white rhino. He also hunted and killed Cecil, an enormous, black-maned lion popular with tourists and a focus of research, in 2015 in Zimbabwe. Photograph: Rex Shutterstock



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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/17/trumps-wildlife-board-claims-trophy-hunting-saves-endangered-animals

[Gothmog]

1. Trumpspeak-War is Peace

[Solly Mack]

2. K&R

I hate those people.

[niyad]

3. same here. too bad the animals cannot shoot back.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

4. In Michigan, some of the money from hunting and fishing licenses goes to conservation.

License money goes to holding some land out of developers' hands, out from farmers' clearing efforts. It's good for wildlife, and benefits some farmers as well.

I'm sure other states have similar arrangements. Wild turkeys, and other species, are thriving where they were once rare.

I hope the money in Zimbabwe is also used for a beneficial purpose, but I have my doubts.

And there is much demand for rhino horn and elephant ivory in some emerging economies.