Big Game, Big Bucks: The Alarming Growth of the American Trophy Hunting Industry

The trophy hunting of exotic animals by American big game hunters is increasing at an alarming rate. Over 45,000 foreign animals were killed and imported to the U.S. by American trophy hunters in 1993, a 71% increase in only a four-year period. Among the imported trophies are thousands of threatened and endangered species, as well as species listed under CITES. The number of endangered and threatened species killed and imported by American trophy hunters increased by 83% in the same period. Three factors have contributed to the rising numbers of animals killed and imported by American trophy hunters: 1) The U.S. government\u27s leniency toward trophy hunting, which has led to increased trophy imports and even subsidies of trophy hunting; 2) aggressive promotion of trophy hunting by organizations to cash-poor African nations who are anxious to sell their wildlife to trophy hunters, regardless of the effect on wildlife populations; 3) the ascension of several trophy hunting advocates to positions of major power in the Congress. ·· · Americans who trophy hunt foreign animals are very wealthy, spending literally millions of dollars killing foreign animals, with very little of this money going to local communities. Competitions, sponsored by elitist trophy hunting organizations, provide incentive for killing more animals, while feeding the multi-billion dollar industry. Trophy hunting advocates are now attempting to gut the Endangered Species Act and to slacken restrictions on the importation of sport-hunted trophies. This report paints a picture of an industry that is out of control and is threatening the survival of wildlife populations around the globe