Shocking scale of the slaughter: Trophy hunters kill an animal ‘every 3 minutes’

Players in the bloodthirsty ‘sport’ of trophy hunting managed to kill an animal every three minutes over the past decade, a devastating new exposé of the industry has revealed.

The new book, entitled Trophy Leaks: Top Hunters and Industry Secrets, was penned by Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting (CBTH) founder Eduardo Gonçalves, and exposes the shocking scale of an industry that disingenuously claims that it is pursuing the aim of conservation.

Over 1.7 million animals – including elephants, lions, and rhinos – have been slaughtered by trophy hunters, with the wealthiest among them paying top dollar to kill rare and endangered creatures perilously on the brink of extinction.

The grim data underscores the ties between an industry that rakes in over $400 million per year; and the global elites thirsty for a chance to kill the rare animals that conservationists have tirelessly worked to rescue, Gonçalves says in his book.

Sick sport

Trophy Leaks reveals that hunters have killed some “100 endangered animals” every day in 2018.

SO how can you support trump? Myself and so many activist worked 8 long years to get all the airlines to refuse to transport body parts as trophies, Then Trump reversed the Trophy Hunting Ban so his son's company Safari Legends can bring back trophies, pic.twitter.com/oqEWo4YEXg

— ROBERT MARGOLIN (@ROBERTMARGOLIN) December 27, 2020

The book, which draws on analysis by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, reveals that the life of an animal is taken for sport every three minutes in a blatantly irresponsible contribution to a loss of biodiversity that has seen the global rate of species extinction accelerate to unprecedented levels in recent decades.

Gonçalves aptly characterizes the trophy hunting trade as an extinction industry that banks on the wholesale slaughter of creatures.

“An estimated 1.7 million animals were shot by trophy hunters over the past decade – the equivalent of almost 500 animals a day, or one every 3 minutes.”

He exposes the incredible kill scores of the world’s top trophy hunters, and the astonishing ‘covert operations’ funded by the industry to prevent their sick sport from being banned.

The book reveals how shills for the game-hunting industry have run high-profile disinformation campaigns on social media to counter the efforts of the UK government to outlaw imports linked to trophy hunters.

About £600,000 (USD $800,000) was used to prop up sock puppet accounts on Facebook and Twitter that purported to be Africans opposed to Boris Johnson’s pledge to ban trophy imports to Britain.

The book says nearly 800 hunters have won the “African Big 5” prize from the industry, which rewards those who have slain at least one buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion, and black or white rhino.

Hunting lobbyists with the Safari Club International (SCI) industry association have also awarded special prizes to hunters who have killed over 80 different African species.

Hunting lobbyists hard at work

Hunting advocates have also reportedly pumped over $2 million to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in hopes of seeing a generous return on investments under his administration.

While Trump has previously denounced trophy hunting, his two sons are prominent trophy hunters and the Humane Society of the United States has denounced his administration for catering to wealthy trophy hunters and ignoring the pleas of conservationists to ban the import of slain animal “trophies.”

“Future generations will look back aghast at how we allowed the world’s most endangered species to be gunned down in their droves by adrenaline junkies in pursuit of grinning selfies and gruesome souvenirs.”

“Trophy-hunting isn’t about a handful of sick individuals – it is about a huge global industry which wields extraordinary power and manipulates governments.”

Also on thesouthafrican.com: Namibia defends trophy hunting as SADC nations seek to sell tusks