Ricky Gervais has thrown his support behind a ban on trophy hunting calling it 'humanity at its very worst'. The comedian, who has previously spoken up about animal welfare, has slammed those who take part in trophy hunting five years after Cecil the Lion was shot and killed by a US hunter Walter Palmer while he was on holiday in Zimbabwe.
The death of Cecil sparked outrage across the world, but five years later there's been no movement on a ban and campaigners say dozens more lions have been killed by UK hunters.
Gervais told the Sun: "Why are we even having to make the case for banning trophy hunting in the year 2020?
"It's hard to think of anything more sickening or senseless than killing an animal for entertainment, then hacking it up so you can display its body parts and brag about it.
"Trophy hunting is humanity at its very worst. We've had five years to do something since the killing of Cecil made everyone aware of what is going on."
Shocking statistics from the African Wildlife Foundation, suggest that unless trophy hunting is banned lions could become extinct outside of captivity as soon as 2050.
Cecil the lion died in 2015. Credit: PA
"Now it's saying again that it wants to ban hunting trophies. We cannot have any more dithering or delay. Nine out of 10 voters want this stopped.
"Wildlife is on the brink. There is now a real prospect of lions becoming extinct in the wild."
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs told the Independent: "There is a clear manifesto commitment to ban the import of hunting trophies from endangered animals and we continue to work to end this shocking trade."
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