Misinformation About Trophy Hunting Threatens Conservation
Trophy hunting is often vilified by misinformation, yet it remains one of the most effective conservation tools in Africa. Contrary to activist claims, scientific evidence shows that regulated hunting is not driving species to extinction—on the contrary, it provides vital funding and incentives to preserve habitats and wildlife. In many African nations, trophy hunting conserves more land than national parks and supports species like lions, rhinos and elephants. Unlike poaching, it is legal, controlled and beneficial to local economies. Calls to ban trophy hunting ignore the lack of viable alternatives and threaten to collapse conservation gains, disempower rural communities and accelerate habitat loss. Conservation must be guided by science, not emotion. Misinformation not only misleads the public but also undermines strategies that work. Until scalable alternatives exist, trophy hunting remains a practical, evidence-backed method to conserve wildlife and protect ecosystems across Africa. Facts, not ideology, must lead this debate.
Key Points:
- The first is the idea that trophy hunting is driving species to extinction. Decades of published, scientific research and field experience show this is demonstrably false. There is not, as far as we can tell, a single species where trophy hunting is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List as a key threat driving it to extinction.
- Humane Society International, an organization that campaigns against trophy hunting, listed the top 20 species imported by American trophy hunters, far from hunting driving those species to extinction, nine of the 20 are increasing in numbers and 6 are stable. 18 are ranked as ‘Least Concern’ by the IUCN, with the other two ‘Near Threatened’: so none are threatened species.
- None of the 20 have trophy hunting documented as a threat to their populations.
- Trophy hunting differs from poaching as much as shopping differs from shoplifting.
