500+ photos of 75 British Trophy hunters with their Kills

Trophy leaks – briefing

The Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting is today publishing over 500 recently taken photos of British trophy hunters with their kills. It is the single largest cache of photos of trophy hunters from any nation ever publicly released.

The cache reveals the identities of 76 British trophy hunters, many of them previously unknown. It includes photos of British hunters with the bodies of lions, elephants, giraffes, hippos, zebras, monkeys, wildebeest, impalas and small cats that they have shot. The photos are displayed below.

It comes as Parliament prepares to debate a bill on November 25 that would ban imports of hunting trophies from endangered species.

The private member’s bill, being brought by Henry Smith MP (Con, Crawley), has been drafted by the government and has the backing of cross-party MPs as well as Britain’s leading animal welfare and wildlife conservation groups.

British hunters are of all ages ranging from their 20s to people enjoying retirement. They come from all corners of the UK – from Devon in the south to Scotland in the north, and from Norfolk in the east to the island of Anglesey in the west.

Men are hunting with wives and girlfriends, experienced solo female hunters, and parents who have taken their young and teenage sons and daughters with them.

There is a wide mix of professions and classes too - from IT technicians, customer relations managers, gas engineers, farmers, architects, property developers, landscape gardeners, charity fundraisers, and people in the road haulage industry.

The photos are almost all from now-deleted marketing galleries published on the internet by Umlilo Safaris, a company initially launched in the UK and is now registered in South Africa. It is one of the hundreds of such companies currently operating in southern Africa.

The cache includes 540 photos of 76 named British hunters and an additional 89 photos of hunters identified as British but whose names are unknown.

Eduardo Goncalves, founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, said: “This is just one of the dozens of companies used by British trophy hunters who go to Africa every year to shoot increasingly endangered animals for fun. It gives us a shocking insight into the scale of the slaughter.

“It also turns on its head the widely-held misconception that trophy hunting is something that just Americans do. British hunters are amongst the world’s leading killers of African elephants and ‘canned’ lions – semi-tame lions bred in captivity and shot in fenced enclosures.

“That’s why the ban needs to happen. Nine out of 10 voters want it brought in immediately.

“The bill coming to Parliament is a very welcome step, but the US-led hunting lobby is doing everything in its power to block the bill including by funding disinformation campaigns.

If people want this barbaric and archaic so-called ‘sport’ consigned to the dustbin of history then they need to contact their MP and tell them that they expect their elected representative to support the bill.”

Directory

Unnamed British Trophy Hunters

with The Animals, They've Killed.


Dear {firstName} {lastName},

I am writing to ask you to vote for Henry Smith MP’s “Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill” which is supported by the government and by opposition MPs alike.

British hunters are killing lions in enclosures for 'sport' and shooting elephants for tusks. They are hunting giraffes, monkeys, and even endangered polar bears and rhinos.

Some have killed so many animals they have won prizes, including an award for shooting over 100 different species. British-owned firms are profiting by selling cheetah-shooting ‘holidays’.

Trophy hunting is senseless, cruel, and devastating wildlife populations. Lion numbers have fallen from 200,000 in the 1970s to as few as 10,000 today. Yet it is still legal for British hunters to shoot lions and other endangered animals and display their bodies and heads in their homes.

The industry is trying to block the ban and to protect so-called “hunters’ rights”. The Times and other newspapers have reported how campaigns to block a ban are being financed by the American gun lobby and by Russian oligarchs linked to Vladimir Putin.

They are making ludicrous claims that a ban on UK hunters bringing home trophies would be “neo-colonialist”, and that killing animals for ‘kicks’ is actually ‘conservation’. They have auctioned polar bears and leopard hunts to fund their campaign to mislead MPs and thwart the will of the British people.

This ban is long overdue. It was first announced in the 2019 Queen's Speech. It was included in party manifestos at the last election. Nine out of 10 voters support it. So do the vast majority of the tens of thousands of conservationists, African community leaders and others consulted by the government.

Please confirm that you support this bill and that you will be there to vote for it when it comes to Parliament.

Thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely,

Write to your MP today!

British trophy hunters are among the WORST in the WORLD:

  • They shoot tame lions in enclosures, defenceless giraffes and monkeys, and endangered elephants, cheetahs and polar bears.

  • Some shoot so many animals that they are winning PRIZES – including an award for killing over 125 species of animals.

  • A British woman was voted the world’s top female hunter after shooting some of the largest lions and elephants ever known.

  • British-owned companies are selling ‘holidays’ where people can shoot cheetahs.

  • The American gun lobby and pals of Russian President Vladimir Putin have been financing campaigns to BLOCK a British ban.

Follow the instructions below to tell your MP you want them to BACK the BAN – and to TURN UP to vote for it. Your UK postcode will be used to find your local MP’s contact details and included in your message to allow them to verify that you are a constituent. Personalising your email is best, but please keep it polite. See the letter template you can use or amend it as you wish.

  1. First, Enter your UK Postcode below to Find your Local MP’s contact details.

  2. On the next page choose Your MP and Click on their Name.

  3. COPY AND PASTE the suggested letter template you can use or amend it as you wish.

  4. Preview and Send Your Message.
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