animal welfare
Ministry of the Environment wants to restrict hunting trophy imports
A look at a taxidermy workshop in Namibia. On the wall are specimens of sable antelope, waterbuck, hartebeest, gemsbok and, on the far right, a kudu. Photo: Rolf D. Baldus/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Animal protection organizations are sounding the alarm and, in a letter to Environment Minister Lemke, are demanding a stop to the practice of hunting trophies. The ministry is reacting – but a general ban is probably not on the agenda.
According to the Federal Ministry for the Environment, it intends to further restrict imports of so-called hunting trophies from protected animal species to Germany.
“On the basis of species protection requirements, we want to reduce the imports of hunting trophies of protected species as much as possible,” said the ministry at the request of the German Press Agency. “In individual cases” it also wants to completely ban the import of hunting trophies, especially “if there are doubts about the sustainability and legality of the hunt”.
Previously, several animal welfare organizations, including an ethics group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), had asked Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) to stop the import of hunting trophies. On request, the ministry stated that it welcomed the critical examination of the topic and that it was a “particular concern” to “continue to actively work on solutions and measures to regulate and restrict trophy hunting even more strictly”. In her previous role as nature conservation policy spokeswoman for the Greens, Minister Lemke had sharply criticized the practice of hunting trophies.
FDP presses on the brakes
The hunting policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Karlheinz Busen, braked. “We deliberately made no provision in the coalition agreement for trophy hunting. Only what is agreed in the coalition agreement will be implemented in this area, »he said in Berlin. «Hunting is living nature and species protection. Hunting trips raise awareness of healthy game stocks in other countries – and also bring more prosperity. Therefore, the proposal to ban or limit trophy hunting is counterproductive and will not be implemented.”
According to the ministry, there are already various import bans for trophies at EU level. In addition, unlike in the past, there are now strict import controls for twelve animal species – including lions, polar bears and hippos. According to the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, 471 hunting trophies of protected animal species were imported into Germany last year. However, these are preliminary figures. The final ones will be available in August. For 2020, the office registered 518 imports, in the pre-pandemic year 2019 there were 784. Frequent countries of origin in 2021 were Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania.
The International Hunting Council (CIC) in Germany and the German Hunting Association (DJV) warned this week of the negative consequences that a general import ban on hunting trophies would have on the livelihood of people in the countries of origin. “Nowhere is it said where the compensation for the loss of income should come from,” said Stephan Wunderlich, coordinator for international hunting affairs and species protection from the CIC and DJV. Without a long-term alternative, it is “absurd” to discuss an import ban.