An auction has been held in Las Vegas to trade the chance to track down polar bears in the Canadian Arctic , with part of the money raised going towards fight back a trophy hunting ban in the UK .
Safari Club International , whichdescribes itselfas a grouping that will " advocate , preserve and protect the rights of all hunters " as well as further " dependable , sound and ethical hunting and related activeness " , sold the hunting trip for $ 65,000 on Friday . The stumble , which come with a personalized souvenir book , get the winner stalk and hound a member of the endangered species , and " take " the fauna with a rifle .
Theauctioneers notethat the " Current police force forbids the importation of pelt and skull of both polar bear and Atlantic seahorse into the USA or Mexico , " but add up that the auctioneers , Canada North Outfitting , will aid order the storage of trophies .
arctic bears are protected by the US Marine Mammal Protection Act and have been list as " threatened " under the Endangered Species Act in the US since 2008 , whichbanned variation - hunt polar bear trophiesfrom being bring into the US .
The UK government recently announced that it would censor trophy hunter from bringing the body piece of 7,000 speciesinto the country , a move which Safari Club International sees as a threat to world conservation . It claimsthat the money rear by selling off hunt licenses helps keep up the species . Some scientist and environmentalist have also spoken in party favour of regulated trophy hunt , argue there is compelling grounds that regularize hunting has seen " more land … conserve than under National Parks , " while poorly pull off trophy hunting — or area where it is entirely unregulated — have insure dramatic decline in local populations .
" Although there is considerable way for improvement , let in in establishment , management , and transparency of financial support flows and community benefit , the IUCN calls for multiple step to be taken before decisions are made that restrict or finish prize hunting program , " a radical of 130 international scientistswrote in 2019 .
" Some people find prize hunting repugnant ( including many of us ) , but conservation insurance that is not based on science threatens home ground and biodiversity and risk disempowering and impoverishing rural communities . "
However , Safari Club International has amount under particular critique for itsrecord book , where hunter can submit their grievance and method of kill for any species and gain a ranking . For lions , the bigger the skull of the hunted animal , the better the grudge .
" By taking out the elephants with the biggest tusks , the lions with the biggest manes , they ’re affecting the gene pool , and you get more and more elephant with smaller tusk . You get more males that are tuskless . You get Leo with smaller mane , " primatologist and anthropologist Dr Jane Goodall suppose in an interview withChannel 4 Newsin the UK .
" So you ’re definitely altering the genetics of the dissimilar species . And the longsighted - term effect of that ? I could n’t begin to say you . "
A study in2016and another in2021found poaching elephants for ivory in Mozambique activate female elephant torapidly evolve being tuskless .
It ’s also unclear how the " no choice for funding " argument restrain up in the Canadian Arctic , where , for object lesson , tours to see the endangered bear could be used to conjure like sums of money .
British comic Ricky Gervais , who supports the ban on the import of trophies into the UK , toldThe Mirrorthat the trophy Hunter are " sadist " , and in particular criticise funds being used to fight the ban .
“ They are doing it to raise funds to cross democracy in Britain – everyone here wants to ban this trade , " he allege . " They are travel to blast this misfortunate creature to bit so someone can get an adrenaline boot and pay off wily lobbyists to spin their web of dissimulation . ”
“ We ’re seeing diametrical bear numbersedging towards extinction . But they still think it ’s OK to shoot them for a laugh . What satellite are they on ? " he added .
