The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told some hunters last month that they could import elephant trophy from Zimbabwe. Five years have passed since the first African elephant carcasses were allowed into the country.
The decision reverses an agencywide hold on processing elephant trophy import permits that was put in place during the Trump administration in November of last year and has since prevented any elephant tusks, tails or feet from being brought into the country.
The reversal is the result of a September 2021 settlement with the Dallas Safari Club, a big-game hunting organization that sued the Trump administration in December 2019. The ministry of the environment and tourism of the country of Namibia was a part of the case. The Fish and Wildlife Service is required to process the permits of 11 hunters named in the suit, as well as 73 other outstanding permit applications. There are countries in the world that allow limited hunting of elephants for sport.
According to a Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman, both parties negotiated a settlement that was in the public interest and just, fair, adequate and equitable.
The service's decision to settle the lawsuit continues a long-running dispute between hunters and experts over whether trophy hunting is beneficial or harmful to big game species. The agency did not fight the lawsuit or reinstate the ban that was instituted during the Obama administration.
They point out that the move goes against President Biden's campaign promise to limit hunting imports. The critics say it is the latest in a series of steps by the Biden administration to acquiesce to lawsuits leftover from the Trump administration and a failure to invest in more protections under the Endangered Species Act. The actions show that Mr. Biden has not kept his word.
The senior attorney at the law firm said they expected the Biden administration to stop everything and make some tough decisions.
The reversal was a long delayed win for trophy hunters and big game groups.
Lane Easter, an equine vet in Texas, said it was a victory for the environment because the habitat for elephants is only made available because of hunting dollars.
Most trophy hunters are from the United States. Before hunters can import a trophy that kills an animal, they must prove that it aided in the positive enhancement of the species.
The Fish and Wildlife Service believes that trophy hunting can be part of a sound management.
Big game hunters say that the money they spend on hunts is invested in the rehabilitation of the species and benefits nearby communities. Elephants and lions can be hunted to benefit herd health.
Many hunters win the rights to hunt in Africa through bidding wars that are held at national conferences.
The Fish and Wildlife Service should not allow paid hunts to qualify as a method of species enhancement because they don't benefit the survival of the species, according to the Humane Society International. Both species of African elephant are at greater risk of extinction, according to the revised listing by the International Union for Conservancy of Nature.
Critics say there is little proof that money paid for a hunt ultimately helps the species recover, especially when corruption has been found to be rampant in several of the countries where African elephants reside.
Teresa Telecky is the vice president of wildlife at the Humane Society International.
Big game hunters thought it would be easier to import elephant trophy when Donald Trump was elected president. The Fish and Wildlife Service reversed an Obama-era ban on elephant trophy imports the week before Thanksgiving in 2017. The news set off a storm of disapproval and criticism, with even Mr. Trump's allies warning that the move might increase the slaughter of elephants.
Not a single elephant trophy was approved for import to the United States after Mr. Trump said he would put the decision on hold.
George Lyon, the lawyer who represented the Dallas Safari Club, said that the law was abrogated because the president found trophy hunting distasteful.
The wildlife service has processed eight permits so far. In addition to the six it allowed, it denied two and is expected to rule on more in the coming months. According to Mr. Lyon, as of last September, close to 300 elephant trophy permits from various African countries were awaiting processing.
Mr. Easter is not going to waste any time celebrating his legal victory. His elephant's tusks are being prepared for shipment to his home in Texas.
He said that he would remember the elephant for the rest of his life.
He has a trophy hunt in Africa in August.
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