Not a zoo issue in particular, but one which many keepers are discussing today. Today, the Trump Administration announced that it will be lifting a ban allowing the import of elephant hunting trophies from some countries in southern Africa.
The announcement has been met with widespread condemnation from the keeper community. There is a fear that this measure could promote the feeling that elephants are worth more dead than alive, that it could serve as a backdoor to smuggling ivory, or that monies supposed to be going to be conservation could be funneled elsewhere.
The fact that one of the countries involved in this arrangement has undergone a coup this week isn't helping matter. Nor is the fact that the President's sons are known to engage in the odd trophy hunt. Maybe someone was hoping for some new decor for the Oval Office...
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