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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, under current regulations, trophy hunters were able to bring body parts from threatened and vulnerable species such as elephants, hippopotamuses, lions and cheetahs into the UK over the last 10 years.

The Government takes the conservation of endangered species seriously and committed to banning the import of hunting trophies from endangered species in our manifesto. A consultation on controls on the import and export of hunting trophies to and from the UK was undertaken between 2 November 2019 and 25 February 2020. The outcome of the consultation, and the accompanying call for evidence will inform our next steps. We are continuing to work on this important area and will publish the Government response as soon as it is practical to do so.

The UK is Party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which regulates international trade in endangered species and aims to ensure it does not threaten their survival. Under these internationally agreed rules, imports of hunting trophies into the UK from species listed under CITES, including elephants, hippopotamuses, lions and cheetahs are subject to strict controls.

Hunting trophies are currently allowed to be imported into the UK where they meet current criteria and demonstrate the import will have no detrimental impact on the conservation status or survival of these species, that the specimens have been obtained from a legal and sustainable hunting operation and in accordance with the legislation on the protection of the species concerned. There are however import suspensions relating to certain species coming from particular countries where the hunting of those species is not considered sustainable. These are kept under review.