DSWF Trophy Hunting Statement

Summary:

Trophy hunting is not an effective conservation solution and is disastrous for wildlife, both for the individual animals killed and wider population dynamics. It rarely provides wider benefits to communities, and in cases when it does, they are minimal compared to more sustainable and ethical alternatives such as tourism, and inadequately and unevenly shared. We can and must find better ways to protect wildlife, and that is why DSWF remains focused on funding projects that provide communities with a genuine stake in protecting the wildlife they live alongside.

Matt Fortescue

Statement:

Trophy hunting involves the killing of wild animals for pleasure, described inaccurately as ‘for sport’ given the huge advantage enjoyed by the hunter in such encounters, for the purposes of displaying parts of the dead animals as a prize, or ‘trophy’. DSWF believe it is an archaic practice, and as a conservation tool, it is usually ineffective at best and disastrous at worst.

The trophy hunting industry is plagued by corruption and mismanagement. Quotas, which themselves are rarely based on robust evidence or scientific data, are often exceeded , and the ‘wrong’ animals killed, with the biggest and strongest often targeted and baited, with negative consequences for wildlife population dynamics . The 2024 hunting of five “super-tusker” bull elephants in Tanzania for example, some of the last members of the surviving gene pool for enormous ivory, is a tragedy in an economic, social, and biological sense. These elephants were a huge draw for tourists with the proceeds benefiting local communities; they were amongst the most heavily researched elephants in the world and part of a very significant fifty-year study that has provided invaluable data to inform conservation strategies; and these huge bulls played a crucial role in herd dynamics, ecosystem management, and in teaching younger males.

DSWF also rejects the argument expressed by many trophy hunting organisations of supposed concern for rural communities which is often no more than a cynical tactic to justify the senseless killing of endangered wildlife. In most cases, the financial benefits are unequally distributed, with hunting outfitters, professional hunters, and governments taking the lion’s share. The economic significance of trophy hunting is heavily overstated and is insignificant to overall tourism revenue and the impacts on local employment.

For most communities, trophy hunting delivers little or no benefit, despite the exaggerated claims and overstated benefits made to the contrary. Research in Botswana demonstrates this, showing that most communities receive almost no financial benefits from the trophy hunting happening on their doorstep , despite the huge sums charged by hunting operators (a license to kill a single bull elephant can be up to $100,000 in Botswana).

Alternative income generating solutions based on wildlife protection are far more sustainable, hold greater ethical value, and can provide much more income and employment for communities living alongside wildlife when compared to trophy hunting, in particular photographic safaris and eco-tourism. There are many more impactful ways to protect wildlife in a way that genuinely benefits communities. That is why DSWF is committed to a wide range of community and education initiatives focused on encouraging alternative livelihoods and the diversification of local economies away from environmentally destructive practices.

New, diverse and increased sources of funding for conservation are needed, away from any reliance on trophy hunting income, if we are to protect and enlarge habitats, support communities, turn the tide on extinction, and to end remaining debates on any role for the deeply flawed trophy hunting model in conservation.

This is why our conservation activities on the ground in Africa and Asia ensure that the communities living alongside wildlife benefit from protecting it rather than killing it.