Patrick Galbraith

In defence of trophy hunting | 8 September 2019

Celebrity outrage over shooting big game is missing the point

‘Why would anyone want to destroy something so beautiful, then stuff its poor lifeless body to keep as some kind of macabre trophy?’ In her first speech after moving into Downing Street, Carrie Symonds, the PM’s girlfriend, chose to attack trophy hunting. ‘A trophy is meant to be a prize, something you’re awarded if you’ve achieved something of merit that requires great skill and talent,’ she said. ‘Trophy hunting is not that — it is the opposite of that. It is cruel, it is sick, it is cowardly and I will never, ever understand the motivation to do it.’

Carrie is not alone. Lately, it feels as though there isn’t a TV celebrity who doesn’t feel outraged about shooting big game. Since its formation just over a year ago, the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting has amassed a list of supporters that reads like the guest list for a BBC Christmas drinks do. Lorraine Kelly, Carol Vorderman, Nicky Campbell, Michael Palin and Ed Sheeran have all pledged their support. To be fair to Ed he has actually been to Africa, to Liberia, though the film he made there was considered by one African commentator to be ‘the most offensive and stereotypical fundraising video of the year’.

The trouble with all this righteous rage is that big game hunting, or trophy hunting, is far from a simple story. Hunting is an industry that, for instance, brings each of Namibia’s 82 community-owned game conservancies an average income of 100 million Namibian dollars a year (roughly £5.5 million). Furthermore, according to government figures, the sector has created 15,000 jobs including trackers and skilled taxidermists — there’s nothing nastier than a mouldy stuffed leopard. Even more interesting for Ed and Carrie, Namibia is a country where wildlife is booming, with the rhino population growing 6 per cent a year and elephant numbers doubling since 1995.

Earlier this year, just over the border, poor President Masisi of Botswana came in for a personal attack from Joanna Lumley who insisted that he keep in place the ban on hunting elephants.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in