What's Wrong with Trophy Hunting?

"Trophy hunting is an abomination, an obscene anachronism that is unjustifiable and intolerable." Alexei Sayle

Trophy hunting is the stalking and killing of wild animals for 'sport'. The League Against Cruel Sports believes this multi-million pound international industry is causing an irreversible decline in some of the world's most threatened species and campaigns to see it abolished.

Since 1996, customers of UK and European travel companies have slaughtered over 9000 bears, more than 2500 highly endangered leopards and nearly 4000 African elephants.

Every year, travel companies rake in millions of pounds from British and other European citizens who buy package tours to Africa, North America, Eastern Europe and Asia. Once there, these big game punters slaughter tens of thousands of animals, many of which are listed by the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) as at risk, endangered or bordering on extinction.

Species at risk include:

• polar bear
• brown bear/grizzly bear
• rhinoceros
• African lion
• leopard
• cheetah