The U.K.’s proposed Animals Abroad Bill, which seeks to ban trophy importation, threatens to undermine conservation success across Africa. While claiming to reduce trophy hunting, the ban ignores domestic hunting and lacks moral consistency. It risks eliminating jobs, conservation funding, and local tolerance for wildlife—key pillars of community-based conservation. Trophy hunting, when well-managed, protects habitat, deters poaching, and incentivizes coexistence, especially in areas unsuitable for ecotourism. No scalable alternatives have yet matched its ecological and socioeconomic benefits. A “smart ban” should instead target unethical practices like canned hunts and inequitable revenue sharing, while reinforcing sustainable, community-led models aligned with IUCN guidelines. Ill-conceived bans without local consultation or viable alternatives threaten both biodiversity and livelihoods, doing more harm than good.
