A Las Vegas auction was conducted to sell the opportunity to kill polar bears in the Canadian Arctic, with a portion of the proceeds going toward challenging a trophy-hunting ban in the United Kingdom. The hunting trip sold for $65,000 on Friday by Safari Club International, which bills itself as a nonprofit that will “defend, maintain, and safeguard the rights of all hunters” as well as promote “safe, legal, and ethical hunting and related activities.” The tour, which includes a personalized souvenir book, includes stalking and hunting an endangered species member, as well as “taking” the animal with a gun.
The auctioneers state that “current legislation prohibits the entry of polar bear and Atlantic walrus hides and skulls into the United States or Mexico,” but add that the auctioneers, Canada North Outfitting, will assist with trophy storage. Polar bears are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of the United States and have categorized as “vulnerable” under the Endangered Species Act of the United States since 2008, when sport-hunted polar bear trophies were forbidden from entering the country.
The UK government has stated that trophy hunters will prohibit from bringing the body parts of 7,000 different animals into the country, a decision that Safari Club International considers to be a threat to global conservation. It argues that the money earned from the sale of hunting licenses aids in the conservation of the species. Some scientists and conservationists have argued that regulated trophy hunting has resulted in “more land…conserved than under National Parks,” whereas poorly managed trophy hunting — or regions where it is completely unregulated — has resulted in catastrophic population losses in local populations.
“Although there is significant room for improvement, including in governance, management, and transparency of funding flows and community benefits,” a group of 130 international scientists wrote in 2019. “The IUCN calls for multiple steps to be taken before decisions are made that restrict or end trophy hunting programs.” “While trophy hunting may seem repulsive to some (including many of us), conservation policy that is not founded on research endangers habitat and biodiversity, as well as disempowering and impoverishing rural communities.”
Safari Club International, on the other hand, has come under fire for its record book, which allows hunters to register their score and method of kill for any species and ranked, The larger the skull of the hunted animal, the greater the score for lions. “They’re altering the gene pool by removing the elephants with the largest tusks and the lions with the largest manes, resulting in more elephants with lower tusks. Males without tusks are more common. You can find lions with shorter manes “Dr. Jane Goodall, a primatologist and anthropologist, said in an interview with Channel 4 News in the United Kingdom.
“So you’re clearly changing the genomes of other species, and I have no idea what the long-term consequences will be.” Poaching elephants for ivory in Mozambique prompted female elephants rapidly evolve tusklessness, according to two studies published in 2016 and 2021.
It’s also questionable how the “no alternative for funding” argument holds up in the Canadian Arctic, where tours to see endangered bears, for example, might be utilized to raise similar sums of money. The trophy hunters are “sadists,” according to British comedian Ricky Gervais, who supports the ban on the entry of trophies into the UK. He also criticizes cash spent to fight the prohibition.
“They are doing it to raise funds to thwart democracy in Britain – everyone here wants to ban this trade,” he said. “They are going to blast this poor creature to bits so someone can get an adrenaline rush and pay slick lobbyists to spin their web of deceit.” “We’re seeing polar bear numbers edging towards extinction. Nevertheless, they still think it is OK to shoot them for a laugh. What planet are they on?” he added.
