With the ever-increasing threats and pressures on wild habitats associated with human development and climate change, it's nothing less than absurd that anyone today glorifies the trophy hunting and killing of endangered animals. But this is sadly still the case: For proof, we need look no further than Safari Club International's annual conference, which starts this week in Nashville. There, the delight in animal death is alive and well.
This is why it is essential to expose these cruelties of trophy hunting for what they are: a show of frivolous domination over animals and nature, fueled by a dangerous mix of gall and selfishness that values animals merely for their body parts, hacked off and taxidermized to hang on a wall, and not their lives, roles in family structures and their part in delicate ecosystems.
This week, our team in Africa released a new documentary that highlights the threat to East Africa’s super tusker elephants from renewed trophy hunting in the region. An elephant is considered a super tusker when at least one tusk weighs over 45 kilograms (100 pounds). It is estimated that fewer than 10 super tusker elephants remain in the Greater Amboseli ecosystem, with fewer than 50 left across the entire African continent. Their magnificent appearance puts them particularly in danger. Five super tusker elephant bulls from the Amboseli elephant population have been legally shot and killed over the past 18 months in Tanzania’s Enduimet Wildlife Management Area by trophy hunters.
