Trump's Son Kills Rare Argali Sheep in Mongolia
Donald Junior reportedly had no permit for the hunt at the time of the kill. It is not the first time that the president's son has attracted controversy as a recreational hunter.
He has apparently done it again: Donald Trump Junior, who has frequently come under criticism for his fondness for big game hunting has killed a rare giant wild sheep, an argali, during a trip to Mongolia.
The son of the US president is said to have shot the animal as well as a red deer as early as August. In doing so, Trump Junior apparently disregarded Mongolian law: at the time of the hunt, he reportedly had no official permit to kill the rare animal.
Permit Issued Retroactively
This permit was subsequently issued after Trump's son met with the President of Mongolia in early September. Trump is said to have won the seven-day hunting trip at a charity auction. However, shooting an argali is only legal with an additional permit.
According to one of the hunting guides, Trump Junior killed the argali at night using a laser sight and prevented the guides from gutting and butchering the animal. Instead, he had it wrapped in foil and taken with him. The president's son was accompanied by five American bodyguards.
Argali: An Endangered Wildlife Species
Argalis can weigh more than 200 kilograms; their long, curved horns repeatedly make them a target for trophy hunters. The species is found across the mountain ranges of Central Asia, though its populations have been declining for some time. Approximately 80’000 individuals remain in Asia.
Trump's Sons Known as Trophy Hunters
This is not the first time that Trump's sons Donald Junior and Eric have appeared as trophy hunters. In 2012, a photo surfaced online showing Donald posing with a severed elephant tail next to a dead elephant, a cartridge belt around his waist and a knife in his hand. The brothers also posed together with a hunted leopard.
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In the dossier Poaching and hunting crime in Switzerland we document cases, legal questions and recurring patterns. The scientific evidence is presented in the overview Studies on the Effects of Recreational Hunting.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
