Elephant trophy import ban

A friend was under the impression that the ban of elephant trophy imports from some countries was an executive order by President Obama. Actually, it was a decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service while Obama was president. I think the news references to "Obama-era ban" confuses people who hear a news article on the radio.

https://www.fws.gov/news/ShowNews.cfm?ID=2E6FF2A2-E10F-82BC-DAE08807810E3C6B

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Service Suspends Import of Elephant Trophies from Tanzania and Zimbabwe
April 4, 2014

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced a suspension on imports of sport-hunted African elephant trophies taken in Tanzania and Zimbabwe during calendar year 2014. Questionable management practices, a lack of effective law enforcement and weak governance have resulted in uncontrolled poaching and catastrophic population declines of African elephants in Tanzania. In Zimbabwe, available data, though limited, indicate a significant decline in the elephant population. Anecdotal evidence, such as the widely publicized poisoning last year of 300 elephants in Hwange National Park, suggests that Zimbabwe’s elephants are also under siege.

Given the current situation on the ground in both Tanzania and Zimbabwe, the Service is unable to make positive findings required under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Endangered Species Act to allow import of elephant trophies from these countries. Additional killing of elephants in these countries, even if legal, is not sustainable and is not currently supporting conservation efforts that contribute towards the recovery of the species.

The decision to suspend the import of sport-hunted trophies from Tanzania and Zimbabwe applies to elephants taken on or after April 4, 2014. The Service will reevaluate this suspension for calendar year 2015 or upon receipt of new information that demonstrates an improved situation for elephants in these countries.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/17/us/politics/trump-elephant-trophy-ban.html

For Now, Trump to Keep Ban on Importing Elephant Trophies
By EMILY COCHRANENOV. 17, 2017

President Trump on Friday reversed the government’s decision to start allowing hunters to import trophies of elephants that were killed in two African countries, pending a further review.

His evening Twitter message reversed a decision by his own administration over Zimbabwe that was announced this week and promoted as recently as Friday afternoon by the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

“Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts,” Mr. Trump tweeted. “Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!”

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Ryan Zinke, the interior secretary, said in a statement later Friday night that the decision applied to two African countries, though it did not name them.

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The United States Fish and Wildlife Service had signaled its intention to end the 2014 ban, citing Zimbabwe’s conservation efforts. On Thursday, the service announced on its website that it would begin issuing permits to allow the import of elephants hunted from 2016 to 2018, with two trophies allowed per import.

Nearly two weeks ago, the department also waived the ban in a similar manner for Zambia.

Zambia and Zimbabwe have had mixed success in recent years maintaining or increasing their elephant population, according to the Great Elephant Census, a project financed by Paul G. Allen, a founder of Microsoft. The project also found that the African elephant population shrunk nearly 30 percent from 2007 to 2014.

It is unclear why Mr. Trump reversed the decision, but the announcement faced backlash from both conservatives and liberals. Laura Ingraham, a Fox News host, said Thursday on Twitter that she did not understand how the decision would not “INCREASE the gruesome poaching of elephants,” while the comedian Ellen DeGeneres started an online campaign, using the hashtag #BeKindToElephants, to raise funds for elephant conservation efforts.

On social media, photos were being shared of Mr. Trump’s two elder sons hunting on safari in Zimbabwe, including one photo that showed Donald Trump Jr. with a severed elephant tail in one hand and a knife in the other.

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Ms. Sanders also confirmed Friday that a near-total ban on the commercial trade of African elephant ivory enforced during the Obama administration would remain in place.