As one of the world's most experienced travellers, having seen over 100 nations on all 7 continents in my lifetime, I recently came across the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting. I would like to offer my full support to what they are trying to achieve because it should be only responsible way forward for nature to be protected from the evil side of humanity. This is effectively a voice for nature since they cannot speak to us directly. 

This industry has somehow been allowed to continue in its current form for centuries and it is now time to stop it altogether. As a race, humans are the dominant species by a long way with more than 8 billion people today from about 1.6 billion in 1900. In little over 125 years, our population has exploded all around the world. The habits of humans many centuries ago was that of a hunter going out to gather food to put on the table to survive. Over the years, humans developed farming and management of livestock where chickens, cattle, pigs and lambs are the main sources of protein from the land for the human population. In places like Africa, local populations hunt animals where it is deemed as bushmeat with a variety of creatures they eat such as monkeys. Populations of Eskimos in the Arctic also kill seals and other animals that you would never find being sold by most supermarkets. 

When I was a child, I wrote a small paper in my spare time about my favourite animal, the tiger. In Latin, it is called Panthera Tigris. I still have the paper to to this day. During my travels to India in 2006, I recall a photo in one of the palaces where a group of British hunters, in the time of the empire of the United Kingdom, were posing with rifles and about 20 dead tigers laying in a row in front of them. In other words, a mass slaughter! This sort of killing spree is impossible to repeat today since we hunted tigers to near extinction levels in india! My travels in this amazing nation also included a trip to Panna Tiger Reserve where there was a small micro population of tigers to be spotted (just 20-30 I believe). One early morning, a small group of us set off on the back of an elephant, high above the grass, and made an attempt to see one of these tigers in the wild. Thankfully, after a short while, we spotted a tiger in its natural environment. I considered myself so lucky to have this moment and had nothing but respect for these amazing creatures. Although I had seen tigers before in zoos in London and elsewhere, this was somehow very different and special. I wondered how the tiger lived there, how it interacted with other tigers, what food it ate, how it managed to stay safe from humans in nearby villages and how India protected its tiger population. Panna's tiger population was almost zero by 2007-8 but thankfully they have increased to about 90 in 2025-6. 

Across the whole world, tigers had been wiped out at alarming rates almost to the point of extinction with just c. 5,500 remaining on planet earth. While the British Empire is long gone, and those crazy tiger hunts are over, tiger products continue to be very popular in many parts of the world, especially China, Vietnam and South East Asia. There is a fictitious belief that tiger bones, and other body parts give humans erotic superpowers which has not been proven at all scientifically. It is a myth that fuels the sick demand for products like tiger bone wine. China has 1.4+ billion people and Vietnam is now over 100 million in just these two nations alone. At its peak, in around 1900, the world tiger population was over 100,000. Compare the whole tiger population today of c. 5,500 to the amount of humans at 8+ billion. In other words, if just a few people want tiger products, including furs / skin, teeth, bones etc, we will have exactly zero tigers left anywhere! A 95%+ decline of tigers is arguably a complete wipeout! Let that sink in. What more can the world to to change this rapidly to ensure tigers have the right environment to live a normal life alongside humans?  

The tiger story is similar to what happened in North America where native bison were virtually hunted to complete extinction. An estimated 30-60 million bison went as low as 1,000 animals and some estimate lower than 500! I repeat, 30-60 million dropped to 500-1,000! How on earth could this have happened? The bloodthirsty stupidity and arrogance of mankind was responsible. Or should we say mankind should be renamed manevil being utterly irresponsible! As my daughter says, these are all God's creatures so how do we think we have a right to behave like this? They were somehow saved at the 11th hour and 59th minute where the species managed to escape being wiped out. It is thankfully now around 500,000, mostly living in national parks in America with a few thousand more in Poland and Belarus.    

The story of the tiger and bison in this world are very similar to lions, other big cats, and all forms of nature that once roamed on planet earth freely before the human population exploded and took over most of the areas where nature was once alone. As people are the most intelligent species on the planet, we have found more ways using new technology to decimate the wildlife on earth. At the earliest knowing of man, we used to hunt them with spears, nets and traps. We later developed guns, dynamite, and other forms of capture and kill. In other words, animals have virtually no escape from humanity's intelligence and evil. Who is protecting the animals? They do not have a police force to call, a special forces to intercept wrongdoing and they cannot fend for themselves once humans take over their landscapes, oceans and rivers. In other words, how sad.

It is only the self-policing of humanity that saves nature! Consider the whaling situation at its height. Early explorers built ships that went to oceans far and wide across the world which is covered by just over 70% by oceans and water.  The peak of this industry was as recent as the 1960s where over 66,000 whales were caught annually and whale oil was the excuse to kill these large marine creatures. Thankfully the discovery of petroleum mean that oil could be found from other sources instead of whales.

Before the 20th century, there was a global population of whales of 2-3 million. Human greed, hunger and an inability to stop itself saw this decline dramatically by 90-99%% In other words, we were just about to wipe these magnificent animals from the world!! In 1986, the world collectively came to its senses where the majority of nations signed an international moratorium on commercial whale hunting activities. Had this ban not come into place, whales would not have been with us today. Populations are slowly recovering but there are a handful of rogue nations who continue to defy the ban and make numerous excuses on why they are special cases to flaunt the rules played by everyone else. These surprisingly include advanced, wealthy nations that should know better, principally Japan, Norway and Iceland.  Thankfully consumer sentiment is changing and successful campaigns have caused changes in the situation in Iceland which seems to now be phasing out this practice of whale hunting. Japan, however, continues to say it is whaling for scientific purposes when the whole world knows this is sadly an excuse to keep doing what it has always done without any conscience that whaling is no longer seen as something we should be doing in the 21st century!

On my world travels, one of the most special trips I made was to Antarctica. This pristine and very special environment was like another world but humans had reached even these remote locations for whaling. On Deception Island there was an old, abandoned whaling station rusting away and ghostly along with large whale bones on the nearby beaches. This was a reminder of the once grisly industry that was here. It was as if the Gods had stepped in here and said "ENOUGH".  To counter this sight of the old whaling station, I was lucky enough to see a huge pod of about 30 whales, both juveniles and adults. They were surfacing, and diving again, blowing air through their blow-holes and looked so peaceful, serene and at one with their surroundings. It was quite honestly the most spectacular sighting of nature I have ever experienced anywhere in this world on all my travels. This scene I witnessed was all thanks to humanity reversing years of barbaric behaviour towards nature with the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling that effectively stopped commercial whaling. Some local populations in places like Greenland and Russia hunt whales for their own consumption but this number is thankfully low compared with past activities around the world.    

The trends above highlight clear and alarming mega trends where the world initially had a high amount of nature and a low amount of humans. As humans grew their population from less than 2 billion in 1900 to over 8 billion today, the number of animals and species declined massively while humans took over vast areas of the land and sea. In some cases, wildlife declines were 75%-99%!! This has to stop and the world must have a dramatic rethink of how it treats nature. 

For centuries, as mentioned above, mankind hunted nature to survive and eat what they caught. Today, this hunting activity isn't necessary due to farming and supermarkets providing what we need. A number of humans however continue to hunt animals ansd wildlife in the name of sport and a hobby. In other words, they like to kill living things for fun. This is done for ego, and to fulfill bloodthirsty habits of many people who get immense satisfaction from the slaughter of animals in their own hands. If humans killed other humans for fun, or sport, this would be considered murder / homicide and it is outlawed in every single nation of the 193 nations inside the United Nations. If found guilty, humans go to jail for very long periods for killing fellow human beings. In some places around the world, they have the death penalty for killing humans. In other words, take a life and you'll lose your own life! Therefore, prison and the death penalty is a mega deterrent to most people to not kill other human beings. While some of us might want to kill others in rage, most of us can reign in this act of desperation to avoid jail and death. 

Humans killing animals is also murder in many ways. Why should it be called sport? It is the wording we use that somehow justifies it to those who do it! I often wonder if there should also be a sport where the hunters are themselves hunted for fun. Should those who get their kicks off killing a lion in Africa, for fun, also be hunted and killed for fun? Of course not as this would be illegal and immoral.  Therefore, humans protect humans with appropriate laws. As we have seen with whales, we are also capable of protecting the majority of these species because we came to a responsible, collective decision not to wipe out the whole whale species! 

In the case of many exotic species of animals, they live in continents far away those who want to cause harm to the population. Many large animals are considered as trophy killings. It is not like simply squashing a cockroach. These animals are some of the most recognisable, special and iconic animals where a certain type of human gets their adrenaline and thrills from taking the life of certain animals. It is utterly sick in many ways like a mental disease and addiction to death of other living things. Again, as it is not another human, it supposedly transitions from murder to a sport. Many hunters, as a memento of their killings, like to behead the animals and have them mounted for a souvenir. This part of the animal then finds its way back to the homes of people who have travelled far and wide to murder wildlife. 

Having made hundreds of journeys over many decades, I cannot imagine for a second organising a trip long in advance where I had the sole intention of going to another continent with the express purpose of killing a certain kind of animal and then taking part of it back in the form of a trophy. This is like premediated murder, planned meticulously and every detail is carefully mapped out to ensure a 100% success rate to take the life of an animal like it was on a special menu. This sort of tourism is unthinkable to most people around the world thankfully. However, to a certain number it is normal behavior and they get away with it! 

Certain nations like Namibia, South Africa and the USA facilitate canned hunting where animals are bred so people can come and kill them for fun. In many cases, the wildlife being killed is considered critically endangered. This must surely stop. However, who will stop it? Those who benefit certainly don't want anyone interfering with their ability to make money from this industry. They  couldn't care less about animal welfare. Worse of all is the language often used by the canned hunting industry who use the word "conservation" as the reason killings must happen. This is counterintuitive as conservation surely means the protection of life - to conserve - rather than the taking of life! 

Humanity now has a stark choice here. As we grow even more beyond 8+ billion people is it business as usual, getting away with murdering wildlife for fun? Or do we come to our senses now as say enough is enough?  There are many forces at work here wanting things to stay as normal where hunters travel far and wide to murder innocent wildlife for thrills and many efforts are spent lobbying various parties for the endless continuation of decimating the world's wildlife. Equally there is hope when we look at other forms of how we mistreat animals. For centuries, Spain and her South American colonies such as Mexico and Ecuador have undertaken thousands of bullfights where the ears of the bull are cut off as a trophy to the fight. Public sentiment, especially among young people, is changing fast where the act of bullfighting is now unpopular and has started to be banned across the world. In the UK, fox hunting, long a pastime of rich aristocrats, has also been outlawed. Elephant rides in places like Thailand are under pressure not to be sold by the large online travel agents and dolphin and whale attractions at places like Sealife are under pressure to stop these shows. Additionally, animal fur from rabbits, minx and weasels is also being phased out by the fashion industry and this is now seen as uncool. Car manufacturers are also under pressure not to use real cow hides and are exploring alternatives such as vegan leather made from a variety of sources such as cactus plants. The world's fishing stocks are also having the spotlight shined on them with powerful documentaries like Seaspiracy where the amount of protected areas must dramatically increase so we don't exhaust the world's supply of fish we eat before they can be sustainably replaced naturally.  

The trophy hunting industry numbers have been moving in the right direction in recent years from 48,000+ exported / imported in 2018 to 22,000+ in 2021. Many would argue this is 22,000+ too many! The question here, again, is who is the voice of the animals as they cannot speak for themselves or protect each other from vile, sick, bloodthirsty hunters who want to shoot, kill and murder these creatures. What would happen if hunters win the argument to continue as they are doing and show a lack of self control and a total lack of respect for nature? What happens if we end up wiping out entire species? Do they care? Is there any element of guilt, or shame amongst this community? Do they believe in any God? Is that God watching them as they take yet another life with a bullet or bow? Who will witness these acts in the middle of nowhere? Will the hunter face any consequences? Will the world be able to finally ban this bullshit? Will the hunters go to hell for what they did?

Is it time to continue trophy hunting? Or hunt the hunter? Or come to our senses and where humanity shows actual humanity towards nature and mankind finds a way to be kinder?  

THE GODS ARE WATCHING US ALL!! 

All animal abuse is unacceptable. But mostly it is illegal. Trophy hunting is legalised animal abuse on an industrial scale. Trophy hunters are exempted from laws which ban the trafficking of endangered species. You can’t shoot an elephant and trade its tusks. If you’re a trophy hunter you can kill the same elephant, take its tusks and get away scot-free.

We now have just 40 ‘Big Tusker’ African elephants left on Earth.

40…

Colonial-era trophy hunters massacred them. Modern-day hunters are allowed to continue the slaughter. One hunter, Ron Thomson, has proudly boasted of having killed more than 5000 elephants.

Humans and primates share over 90% of the same DNA. British trophy hunters joyfully boast of killing monkeys and baboons. Alongside elephants, they are among the most popular animals for UK trophy hunters. An investigation by the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting reveals that hunters have traded trophies of whales, dolphins and chimpanzees. Sloth bears, parrots, turtles and flamingos are deemed fair game too.

People capable of animal cruelty are equally capable of hurting people. Many of the world’s worst criminals – including Moors Murderer Ian Brady – started out abusing animals. The FBI says animal cruelty is a ‘Grade A felony’ – the most serious category of crime. Serials killers keep souvenirs of their victims. Trophy hunters kill one animal after another and then take their sick mementoes home.

You can go to prison for shooting a cat for fun. You can win a prize for shooting a wild cat for fun, even though it is threatened with extinction. Scientists say lions are losing their genetic diversity thanks to hunters shooting the biggest animals, and that this could condemn them to extinction. The last time a big cat disappeared from earth was the sabre-tooth tiger. It died out in prehistoric times.

Can you imagine a world without lions? How do we explain that to future generations?

We cannot call ourselves civilised while we allow trophy hunting. We must abolish it.

Please act today.

Everyone was outraged when Cecil was shot 6 years ago, yet thousands more lions have been killed by trophy hunters since then, some of them by British hunters. There used to be 20 million lions. Now there are 20,000. The law says it’s still OK to kill lions for thrills. It’s not OK. It’s institutional insanity.

Trophy hunters are committing crimes against nature. They’re murdering living things for a laugh. If someone did that to a human they’d be sectioned or sent down. If you kill and grin about it, you’re a sadist. Full stop. Killing animals for ‘fun’ is the depths of depravity.

Trophy hunters call their atrocities ‘sport’. Taking pleasure from seeing animals writhing in pain isn’t sport. Boasting how many defenceless animals you’ve killed isn’t sport. Taking selfies of yourself standing over your victims isn’t sport. It’s just being nasty.

If you want to fully understand the definition of absurdity, look at the situation with trophy hunting. We have laws that ban or restrict the trade in animal body parts. Then they say it’s OK for trophy hunters to kill the same endangered animals – because trophies are a hunter’s ‘personal or household effects’. It’s absurd!

Right now in Britain if you shoot a cat for a laugh you could go to prison. But if you’re a trophy hunter and shoot a big cat you could get a prize. Are we going to have to wait until lions go extinct and then say – ‘Oh yeah, maybe we shouldn’t have let this carry on’? Scientists say lions could soon be gone from the wild. Are we seriously ready to just let that happen?

But we can’t just ban trophy hunting of endangered animals. All trophy hunting needs to stop. No animal is more or less worthy of dignity. A trophy hunter who shoots an eland is just as much of a psycho as one who shoots an elephant. It’s just as wrong to kill a reindeer for kicks as it is to kill a rhino. We need to get it into our heads that we are not supreme beings, we don’t have the right to murder living creatures for entertainment, and that there’s no excuse for animal abuse.

Like many people in our country, I am a big animal lover and detest all forms of animal cruelty. For me, trophy hunting is possibly the worst and most senseless kind of animal cruelty. I cannot understand what pleasure someone can get from killing an animal for kicks.

How can you kill an animal that’s been bred in a cage just to be shot for a ‘trophy’? How can you shoot a defenceless animal from 200 yards and call that ‘sport’?

Trophy hunters are given awards for killing most animals with ‘novelty’ weapons. They shoot elephants and hippos with bows and arrows and handguns and get prizes for it. British hunters are permitted to kill giraffes and zebras and bring home their heads and skins to decorate their homes with.

They are allowed to kill tame lions and leopards in enclosures the animals cannot escape from – just so they can smile and pose for a photo next to their victim. No wonder people in Britain are angry and want trophy hunting banned.

I cannot understand why this is still legal. We constantly hear we are in the middle of an extinction crisis. Yet laws to protect vulnerable species don’t apply to trophy hunters.

An investigation by the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting shows there are less than 7,000 cheetahs left on earth. There are fewer than 5,000 black rhinos. If trophy hunting is your hobby, though, you can get a permit to kill them and bring their body parts home to show off.

It seems we are condemning wildlife to not just a cruel death but also to a needless extinction. We must halt the slide while there is still time. How can any living species hunt another for a trophy?

I was born in the Maasai Mara in southwestern Kenya. I lived in a typical village and would look after the livestock. I grew up with wildlife all around me. When I was a boy, I became very close to a small bat-eared fox. We used to have some in the fields where I would look after the sheep and goats. I used to play with him. He would run around me and then run into a hole in the ground. I would run around with him.

It makes me feel sick that trophy hunters, including from Britain, go to Africa to shoot bat-eared foxes for fun. It’s my favourite animal. Knowing that some people shoot them for fun is a terrible thing. I feel sick even thinking about it.

When you are a boy in the Maasai tribe, you aspire to become a warrior. Before, you would have to participate in a lion hunt to prove your warriorhood. When the Maasai realised we can benefit from conserving wildlife, we decided to stop any cultural activities that involved the killing of an animal. You can now be recognised as a Maasai warrior without going lion hunting.

To shoot and stick a lion’s head on a wall is absolutely wrong.

The Maasai have increased the size of our conservation areas. More animals mean more nature tourism which means more income for the community. The conservancies employ young Maasai as rangers. You get proper training so it creates jobs.

I went to high school thanks to money generated by photographic tourism. The share of the money given to the local community was used to provide an education for children like myself. Every single child that was in high school was sponsored with this money.

Thanks to this I was able to become a naturalist and safari guide. It was perfect for me, because I grew up among the wildlife in the Maasai Mara so it was very easy for me. Some children have been sponsored to come to the UK or go to the US to study to become doctors and engineers.

I hope Britain brings in a total ban on the import of trophies and the rest of the world follows. Conservation and hunting don’t go together. Nobody should be allowed to bring in anything from a trophy hunting trip anywhere in the world. There should be a complete ban. Go and hunt with a camera, not a rifle.

If you can afford to pay to hunt a lion or an elephant, give that money to conservation. Go and take photographs. Leave the animals alone.

It is 6 years since Cecil the lion was shot by an American trophy hunter. It is 5 years since the government first promised to stop hunters from bringing back these gruesome souvenirs.

Trophy hunting is purely horrific and unjustified cruelty, however. Cecil the lion was in agony for 11 hours before he was eventually killed. US studies say half the animals shot by trophy hunters are wounded rather than instantly killed. A new book, ‘Undercover Trophy Hunter’, reveals that British hunters are equally responsible for inflicting appalling injuries on the same animals. This kind of suffering purely for fun is simply inexcusable.

A Survation opinion poll shows just 3% of voters favour a trophy ban on endangered species alone. A full 85% of the public – and 89% of Conservatives – want a total ban. A new All-Party Parliamentary Group which aims to see all trophy hunting banned has been launched. It is being chaired by a Conservative backbencher, Sir Roger Gale MP. Fellow Conservative Sir David Amess MP has tabled an early day motion calling for a total ban.

Trophy hunters and serial killers have a lot in common. It’s time the law dealt with them in the same way. Banning trophy hunting imports should be right at the top of this government’s agenda. There is overwhelming public support for it. A ban should be properly enforced with tough punishments for anyone who tries to get around it. Jail terms should be on the table. Fines should be heavy enough to be a real deterrent and punishment for trophy hunters who are generally very wealthy, and could be used to support conservation.”

Trophy hunting is an archaic, cruel and unjustified relic of yesterday. We need a comprehensive ban that is properly enforced and which is backed up by tough punitive measures. If we are to make a serious statement about repudiating this barbaric pastime, the government must set jail tariffs which reflect the seriousness of this crime against nature.

In this day and age, it is remarkable that we still continue to witness amongst some people a mindset that dates back to a bygone era. There are some in the human race who are trapped in a past that was driven by a dog-eat-dog mentality that has absolutely no care for nature and the planet we live on.

Such an example of reckless abandonment of responsibility is demonstrated by those who advocate for the hunting of wildlife purely for sport and recreation. This is evident in the governments that encourage it and by those who partake in it.

Those who pose alongside the animals they have killed, with glee on their faces and rifles in their hands, propping up the head of the slaughtered animal, is a picture of ridiculousness many have seen. It demonstrates a flaw in human nature which exposes a sadistic side to them that would make some terrorist organisations proud to have them in their ranks.

And it is a form of terrorism when you want only to kill for enjoyment and pose with the dead, as ISIS often did with the severed head of their innocent victims. With the decline of wildlife worldwide, and many species approaching extinction, all caused by man, how can there be justification for hunting? How can any government say they are fighting poaching whilst allowing hunting at the same time? What a contradiction – what hypocrisy.

But let us not forget that sometimes these decisions, which are detrimental to our environment and not in the long term best interests of nature, are driven by greed and corruption. The downtrodden in this world, be they people or animals, shall forever be so for as long as those in power who are fed by power brokers are allowed to exist on our dying planet.

There will be nothing left for future generations to inherit and marvel at if indeed there are many generations left to come, as we see the particles in the hourglass seeping to the bottom. There they shall remain as no one will stop the tsunami of destruction and reverse the tide by turning the glass upside down and replenishing our world.

I call upon those countries from where these promoters of extinction come from to step up and ban the import of trophies and sanction this bad practice.

Pope Francis, in his Encyclical Letter “Laudato Si – On Care for Our Common Home”, refers frequently to the dignity and value of every creature. He says: “This is the basis of our conviction that, as part of the universe, called into being by one Father, all of us are linked by unseen bonds and together form a kind of universal family, a sublime communion which fills us with a sacred, affectionate and humble respect.”

This interconnectedness also includes the animal kingdom and our need to preserve all species. It would be clear from this document alone that Catholic teaching would be in defence of animals hunted for trophies.

We seem, perhaps all too slowly, to be recognising that we have a common responsibility with all peoples – our brothers and sisters throughout the world – to care for our planet, “our common home”.This means accepting the challenge to be responsible and knowledgeable stewards of the world in which we live.

That stewarding needs to embrace the physical world, with its climate, minerals and resources, and the creatures that inhabit this world. Nature is a complexity which exists with fine and exacting balances and where we intrude on Nature’s cycle we endanger species. We are learning about the diversity of creatures just at the time that we are beginning to understand how destructive we are being and that in this generation we are now seeing the extinction of 200 species every single day, in what is being called the “Sixth Global Mass Extinction”.

We need to urgently reverse this destruction. But there remains one notable exception to concerns expressed about the protection of the diversity of our wildlife – our persistent cruelty towards some animals in the pursuit of trophies. We continue to slaughter animals, often in the cruellest fashion, for sport and fun. How can we claim any dignity in that? What pride can there be in arming ourselves with guns to kill defenceless creatures which are no threat to us?

We seem to have become very confused about the gift of life, be it human or animal. There are arguments that can be understood, whether a person might agree with them or not, about the killing of an animal for its meat – but for a trophy to hang on the wall? There can be no justification for that, particularly when a whole species is facing extinction.

A radical change in thinking is needed, now.