Evaluating our Impact on Hunting Trophy Import Legislation in the UK
Our extensive partnership with Oxford University supported their research against the backdrop of legislation that was proposed to prohibit the import of hunting trophies to the UK between 2022 - 2024. Our work significantly shaped public policymaking and resulted in the proposed “Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) bill” being dropped.
In response to the proposed legislation, our researchers evaluated key evidence relating to the proposed import bans outlined in the bill, using data from CITES and the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. Our work revealed that between 2000 and 2021, an estimated 3,494 hunting trophies from 73 CITES-listed species and subspecies were exported to the UK. This involved approximately 2,549 individual animals. Import figures averaged 158.86 trophies per year, representing 115.83 whole organism equivalents annually.
Importantly, the research found that the majority (79%) of imports between 2015 and 2021 originated from countries where populations of the hunted species were stable, increasing or abundant. Legal hunting for trophies was not identified as a major threat to any of the imported species. Moreover, trophy hunting was found to pose a potential threat to only nine species, while not posing a threat to the longer-term survival of twenty others.
Using these findings, TRADE Hub researchers proposed alternative regulatory options, directly informing discussions in the House of Lords during the bill's committee stage in 2023. Eight members referenced this research during the debates, providing justification for the Lords' decision not to pass the bill through the second committee stage. Consequently, the bill expired in December 2023, highlighting the tangible impact of evidence-based policymaking informed by rigorous research.