1. Over the past decade, hunters have taken home over 1.7 million “trophies” from animals they have killed for “sport”. More than 200,000 of them were from animals in danger of going extinct.

2. Elephants, leopards and lions – which are all threatened – are among the most sought-after animals by trophy hunters. Lion trophy hunting popularity has soared in recent years – despite the uproar over Cecil – while numbers in the wild have fallen significantly. Over the past decade, 10,000 lion trophies have been taken: there are now just 20,000 lions left in the wild.

3. There is increasing popularity of ‘canned hunting. Some 200 ‘factory farms’ in South Africa have bred thousands of lions in enclosures for cub-petting, lion-walking and cheap, guaranteed trophies. Lionesses are often killed for their bones to make ‘wine’ and ‘cake’ for so-called “traditional medicines” in Asia.

4. Around 70% of trophy hunters are American. Of the top 20 countries for trophy hunters, 15 were from European nations. Canada, South Africa and Namibia are the 3 leading exporters of animal trophies, making up approximately 70% of the world market.

5. The trophy hunting industry is represented by powerful lobby groups such as the Safari Club International (SCI) which exists to “protect hunters' rights” and “protect the freedom to hunt whatever game we choose to hunt”.

6. The SCI promotes various award schemes that actively encourage hunters to kill Africa’s “Big 5” and other threatened species. A hunter must kill an elephant, a rhino, a lion, a leopard and a buffalo to get on the “African Big Five Grand Slam” list. Other awards include the “African 29” – which demands a minimum of 29 African wildlife kills. To win its Hunting Achievement Award at the Diamond level, a trophy hunter must shoot animals from at least 125 DIFFERENT SPECIES.

7. Contrary to common perception, CITES – the international agreement to protect threatened species from trade – does not ban trophy hunting, even of species listed in Appendix 1 (animals at greatest risk of extinction). This is despite the convention stating such animals should only be killed “in exceptional circumstances”. CITES exempts trophy hunting from its provisions by classifying it as a “non-commercial” activity and because hunting trophies are “personal and household effects”!

8. Pro-hunting groups claim that trophy hunting encourages wildlife conservation. However, an exhaustive review by a US Congressional Committee found that trophy hunting was directly responsible for population declines of big cats, particularly lions, and that trophy hunting and poaching are currently outpacing the reproductive rate of elephants. Species such as Dorcas gazelles and the Nubian bustard have been all but wiped out by trophy hunters. Trophy hunters are believed to have caused the extinction of several wild species, including the Quagga and the Scimitar-horned Oryx.

9. The trophy hunting lobby claims that it supports significant numbers of local jobs. The UN’s World Tourism Organisation, however, says trophy hunting brings in just 1.8% of tourism revenue in these countries, compared to 80% for wildlife watching. As much as 97% of revenue generated by trophy hunting stays within the hunting community or is syphoned off by corrupt government officials. Trophy hunting generates at most 0.03% of GDP in African nations, and just 0.76% of the total number of jobs created by all forms of tourism combined.

10. The industry claims that trophy hunting funds anti-poaching work. In fact, trophy hunting provides a cover for illegal poaching, with many of the same people involved in both. One investigation found that rhino horns worth hundreds of millions of dollars had been taken by wildlife traffickers posing as trophy hunters.

Finally – and perhaps most importantly of all – trophy hunting is cruel and inflicts pain and suffering, not just on the target animal but also on its offspring. Shooting from a long distance increases the likelihood of non-fatal wounding, which has been found to occur in up to 50% of cases. Trophy hunting groups like SCI encourage hunters to win prizes by using bows and handguns, which increases this risk.

Trophy hunters will often avoid headshots – which are most likely to result in instantaneous death – as this could ‘spoil’ the trophy. The killing of females can cause their offspring to starve, while the killing of males can lead to infanticide as new males compete for control of a pride/herd, as is often the case with lions for instance.