U.S. trophy hunting group to auction off killing of animals

U.S. trophy hunting group to auction off killing of 28 New Zealand animals; others in Spain, Italy, Portugal, U.S.A, South Africa

Tomorrow in Las Vegas, USA, the Safari Club International - the U.S. trophy hunting club of which Cecil killer Walter Palmer is a member, and the largest trophy hunting organisation in the world - will host its major trophy hunt auction event touted as "The Ultimate Hunters Market".

More than 20,000 people are expected to attend, and a total of 301 mammal hunts will be auctioned over five days, with the killing of at least 600 animals in 32 countries on offer in auctioned hunts around the world, including New Zealand as well a EU countries such as Spain and Italy.

A total of 28 hunts will be offered in New Zealand including the red deer, Arapawa ram, chamois, fallow deer, Himalayan thar, sambar deer, and sika deer. Most hunts will take place in the USA (77), followed by South Africa (37), Canada (33), New Zealand (28) and Spain (28).

These kill auctions are a way for the SCI to raise money for its pro-hunting activities. At its 2015 Convention, SCI earned US$ 2.7 million from the auction of 314 mammal hunts. According to SCI's financial statement, in 2014, $14.7 million of its $23.8 million annual revenue (62%) was generated by that year's convention. With this money, SCI works to open up trophy hunting seasons for wolves, fight efforts to restrict the hunting of African elephants and lions, and lobbies global governments to increase hunter access to wildlife.

In other hunts around the world, the animals on offer for killing are: a baboon, black bear, brown bear, grizzly bear, bobcats, cougars / mountain lion, African lions, leopards, African wildcat, African lynx, caracals, civets, genets, large-spotted genets, Canadian lynx, fox, coyote, wolf, jackal, bat-eared fox.

The killing of Cecil the magnificent black-maned African lion who was lured out of a national park in Zimbabwe only to be shot with an arrow by American dentist, Walter Palmer, started an international firestorm about the ethics of global trophy hunting. In response to the outrage, France banned the import of all lion trophies, and 45 major airlines including Delta, Virgin Atlantic, and United Airlines banned the transport of some or all trophies. SCI aids and abets this wholesale slaughter of tens of thousands of wild animals annually, offering awards and accolades to its members, who gain credits within the fraternity as they increase the number of species killed on different continents around the world. In fact, Walter Palmer himself is a member of SCI who was initially dismissed from its ranks but later reinstated as a member. Palmer won a "continental" award for killing a dozen animals in North America. When caught with Cecil, he was on his way toward claiming the Africa Big Five award, which requires the killing of an African elephant, an African lion, a rhino, a leopard, and a Cape buffalo.

Offering "pay to slay" hunting trips is grotesque, treating these magnificent animals as little more than living target practice. We believe that European citizens would be horrified to learn that trophy hunts are being offered within EU countries as well.

ENDS

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