Switzerland rejects import ban on hunting trophies

Why do Switzerland and Germany still allow the import of private hunting trophies?

Killing animals for trophies is in some cases criminal, but always wrong — a deplorable practice.

Critics have been calling for a ban on scientific and ethical grounds for years — yet in both countries they suffered another setback in spring 2017.

Trophy hunting: Ethically reprehensible and counterproductive

Lion skulls, cheetah skulls, brown bear skulls, leopard skins, rhinoceros horns, elephant tusks and more: thousands of such body parts from protected species regularly enter our countries — and still legally.

Trophy hunters spend their leisure time wounding and killing defenceless animals, only to boast among fellow hobby hunters about the lifeless bodies of their victims — the hunting trophies. It is nothing but the thrill of killing and posing with the victims. Nothing could be more ethically reprehensible than trophy hunting. Such a hunting trip typically lasts one to three weeks, during which an average of two to ten animals are shot for fun, depending on the country. Trophy hunters tend to target the largest animals — those most important for the survival of the species. This deprives social groups of key social individuals, which can traumatise the remaining herd members. Trophy hunting abroad involves methods that would not be tolerated under animal welfare law at home. In some cases, wild animals are even bred exclusively for trophy hunting in what is known as “canned hunting.”

National Council votes against import ban

In Switzerland, the National Council voted on 7 June 2017 against an import ban on hunting trophies from rare animals, rejecting a Motion rejected with 118 votes to 72.

Wild beim Wild recommends sending these politicians packing at the next elections. It is mostly always the same circles that make backward decisions on animal and nature conservation.

The motion “Ban on Imports of Hunting Trophies” called for the Federal Council to prohibit the import and transit of trophies from protected species such as elephants, rhinoceroses, and polar bears, as well as from primates and predators. In addition, an import ban was to apply to all trophies originating from so-called canned hunts.

Germany endorses trophy hunting

The German Federal Government published a background paper on the subject of trophy hunting at almost the same time, on 17 May 2017 — the very day on which a petition signed by approximately 200’000 people was handed over to the government. State Secretary Jochen Flasbarth of the BMUB openly declared his support for trophy hunting when accepting the petition at the Bonn office. As the most senior official, he represents Minister Barbara Hendricks and, by extension, the Federal Government.

Flasbarth justified his position with the standard arguments of hunting proponents: it is the critics of big-game hunting who display colonial behavior, not the big-game hunters themselves. Anyone opposed to the import of hunting trophies must also want to abolish hunting in Germany. Furthermore, hunting in Africa only takes place in healthy populations. Trophy hunting serves to regulate these populations and turns the countries of origin into partners.

The initiator of the petition, Dr. Christian Felix, counters: "Endangered species must not be killed out of pure trophy greed; furthermore, a hunting license is required — neither condition is met in trophy hunting abroad. The hunting methods used would also be prohibited in our countries: time and again, animals are lured from protected areas into surrounding hunting zones to be killed by hobby hunters in various ways. Even hunting with bow and arrow or crossbow is permitted. The so-called ‘healthy populations’ cited barely exist anymore. The populations of cheetahs, lions, leopards, rhinoceroses, elephants, and giraffes have declined sharply. Millions of euros in German taxpayers’ money are being invested in the infrastructure of African hunting areas. Trophy hunting is ethically unacceptable — it is a relic of the colonial era and continues to decimate species threatened with extinction, as affirmed, for example, by the European Parliament in a resolution on 24 November 2016."

Animal welfare and species conservation advocates have long been calling for a ban on the import of such hunting trophies, in order to strip trophy hunting of its appeal and remove the threat to endangered species.

If hobby hunters were truly interested in helping local communities or preserving species, the large sums of money they spend on hunting trips would be better and more effectively invested in trustworthy development and education projects.

In India or Sri Lanka, for example, there is a nationwide hunting ban, and in those countries we do not face these problems of shoddy Western-style development aid or species conservation of this kind.

Alarming figures

1,028 elephants were approved for shooting and export by foreign trophy hunters by African hunting countries this year alone — and this despite the fact that elephant populations in Africa have been reduced by around one third over the last eight years. Even the extremely rare desert elephants and forest elephants are being slaughtered by hobby hunters. Between 2010 and 2016, 80 elephant trophies were imported into Switzerland. That amounts to 10 dead elephants per year attributable to Swiss hobby hunters! In Germany, 62 tusks from African elephants were imported in 2015 alone, meaning at least 31 animals lost their lives. Forecasts suggest that by 2030 there will be virtually no elephants left in Africa.

In Africa alone, around 100,000 big cats, elephants, buffalo, giraffes, zebras, and antelopes and so on fall victim to trophy hunters every year.

Germany is the EU country with the second-highest import quota after Spain. France, on the other hand, banned the import of lion trophies two years ago — regardless of the repeatedly cited argument that big-game hunting contributes to the protection of animals. By also benefiting the local population economically, it supposedly reduces the incentive for poaching. However, numerous studies confirm that this argument is just as absurd as it sounds. For example, a study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has shown that hunting tourists benefit neither local communities nor government bodies in West Africa.

Switzerland and Germany bear responsibility for international wildlife and species protection and are called upon to take the right action. They are not alone. Other countries have already taken steps. The Netherlands has also banned the import of trophies from around two hundred animal species, and within the EU, 143 Members of the European Parliament are calling for stricter import conditions for hunting trophies into the EU. To protect lions, Australia introduced an import ban on hunting trophies of these animals in 2015, and so on.

It is the trophies alone that make hunting abroad attractive

Around 1,500 Swiss citizens travel the globe every year to hunt endangered animals and bring them home as trophies. This is one of the reasons why hobby hunters have such a dismal ecological footprint. Currently, the import of animal trophies from protected or severely endangered species into Switzerland is legal, provided the requirements of the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) are met.

While Switzerland's import figures represent only a fraction compared to the world's largest trophy importers, the USA and the EU, it must be borne in mind that with protected species, every single individual animal counts for the survival of the species. Furthermore, trophy hunting — beyond the issue of species conservation — also involves animal cruelty, corruption, land dispossession, illegal trade, and smuggling. The argument that trophy hunting serves conservation because it generates foreign currency and thereby creates an incentive to maintain wildlife populations as a source of income is rejected not only by Lüber of OceanCare. According to studies, the revenue barely reaches the local population: big-game hunting in Africa contributes just 0.006% to national government budgets.

«With a ban on the import of hunting trophies, Switzerland would have made a timely decision with symbolic significance. Countries such as France and the Netherlands have already enacted similar regulations — it would have been time for Switzerland to do the same. We will continue to work towards Switzerland following suit,» says Lüber of OceanCare.

The United Nations estimates that a high percentage of all animal species that have gone extinct were contributed to by hobby hunters. Hobby hunters demonstrably contribute to the reduction of biodiversity . Trophy hunting is decadence in its purest form.

Ironically, also on 7 June 2017, the Swiss National Council adopted a motion for an import ban on all products produced through animal cruelty by 97 votes to 77, with 17 abstentions (here too the Federal Council was opposed). If the Council of States also approves the motion, the Federal Council will be required to develop the legal framework for an import ban on products such as fur products, foie gras, and frogs' legs.