President Donald Trump said Friday he will uphold a ban on importing trophies of elephants hunted and killed in Zimbabwe, pending further review.
Flickr
This is a reverse of his own administration's decision from just a day earlier after a public outcry.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the pair came to the decision after they "talked and both believe that conservation and healthy herds are critical."
Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts. Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!
Just hours before, Trump's spokeswoman Sarah Sanders had defended the US Fish and Wildlife Service's move to end the 2014 ban initiated under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama.
The service said Thursday that it would begin issuing permits to import "sport-hunted trophies from elephants hunted in Zimbabwe" between January 21, 2016 and December 31, 2018.
Zambia would also have been covered under the revised rule.
The move was met with a barrage of criticism from animal rights groups and activists.
It also came on the same day that the US State Department presented to Congress its first annual report on wildlife trafficking which, it said, "remains a serious transnational crime."
According to the Great Elephant Census project, African Savanna elephant populations fell by 30 percent between 2007 and 2014, while Zimbabwe saw a drop of six percent.
Despite an overall fall in poaching, Africa's elephant population has declined in part because of continued illegal killing, said a report this year by CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
