Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to prohibit the importation of trophies secured from the killing of (a) lions, (b) elephants and (c) other mammals in (i) Tanzania, (ii) Zimbabwe and (iii) other African countries.

The international rules for the import and export of hunting trophies are established under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). A hunting trophy of an endangered species can only be exported if the exporting country is satisfied that the hunt was both legal and sustainable. CITES controls are implemented at an EU-wide level and the UK works with other EU Member States to agree a collective approach.

In light of growing concerns about the sustainability of the hunting of some species, the EU has introduced stricter controls on the import of hunting trophies of six species, including lions and African elephants. These require that both the exporting and importing country must be satisfied that the animal was hunted sustainably. As a result the import of hunting trophies of certain species from certain countries is currently prohibited by the EU, including lion trophies from Cameroon and Mozambique and elephant trophies from Tanzania. Imports of lion and elephant trophies from Zimbabwe are currently allowed into the EU as they are considered to be sustainable. The import of lion trophies from Tanzania is under consideration by the Scientific Review Group, which brings together the Scientific Authorities of EU Member States to provide advice on CITES matters and which is expected to decide at its next meeting whether the importation of lion trophies from Tanzania should be prohibited.

A full list of EU CITES trade suspensions can be found at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32015R0736

I recognise that there are real concerns about the impact of trophy hunting on lion conservation. As I announced in Parliament on 24 November 2015, the Government will ban lion trophy imports within the next two years unless there are improvements in the way hunting takes place in certain countries, judged against strict criteria. We will work with our European and international partners, and experts in the field, to reach a common approach to this issue.