‘Horrified that this is still legal!’: public reactions to a cruel and antiquated trade

Credit: Richard Garvey-Williams

4 min read14 May Partner content

At a recent exhibition hundreds of visitors expressed shock and disgust at photographs of animals reduced to grotesque souvenirs, shipped to the UK as hunting trophies. Now politicians are invited to see those images in Parliament on 20th May.

Blank eyes staring out of a lion’s head, teeth bared as if poised to fight, but forevermore motionless. This is the first image visitors saw at a powerful exhibition in April of 35 photographs of hunting trophies, taken by award-winning photojournalist Britta Jaschinski, displayed at London’s Mall Galleries in an exhibition titled ‘Still Life’.¹ The photographs depict body parts of majestic and often endangered wild animals reduced to household items like foot stools, bottle openers and pencil holders. They capture the grim and tragic reality of British trophy hunters’ desire to bring home sick souvenirs, and should strengthen the Government’s resolve to make good on its manifesto commitment to ban hunting trophy imports to the UK.

Humane World for Animals UK, which organised the exhibition, is bringing a curated selection of these photographs to Parliament on 20^th May (2-4pm, the Churchill Room). Politicians will hear from the photographer Britta Jaschinski, the 2024 photojournalism category winner of the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year award, event sponsor and political advocate against trophy hunting Lord Spellar, and Noma Dube, founder of Zimbabwe Elephant Foundation.

This special Parliamentary exhibition will also feature a video, captured at the public exhibition, showing people’s reactions to the photographs. Attendees will also have the opportunity to read the moving messages people have written for politicians on paper elephants, such as:

“We must stop this awful unnecessary slaughter of animals, purely for human gratification. The government must introduce tougher laws against this”

And this:

“Time to ban imports and show our disgust for barbaric killing of these astonishing creatures who share our world.”

Their voices are echoed by the vast majority of the British public (over 80 per cent) who find trophy hunting abhorrent and believe that importing hunting trophies to the UK should be banned.²

Latest wildlife trade data from CITES shows that imports of hunting trophies from endangered species increased significantly in 2023, to an alarming post-Brexit high, with trophies from 39 animals, including lions, elephants, a brown bear, a leopard, a hippo and a cheetah, imported to the UK in 2023. This is over four times the number of trophies imported in 2022.³

Trophy hunters target the oldest, biggest and most powerful animals, who are vital to the survival of these keystone species, for ‘fun’ and bragging rights. In the UK, hunting tour companies operating today have turned planning a holiday to kill an endangered animal into a perverse pick ‘n’ mix: British trophy hunters can choose where they want to go, the type of animal they want to kill and the weapon they want to use. Using weapons such as crossbows, muzzle loaders and handguns is common and, particularly when used by inexperienced hunters, these weapons can cause animals to suffer greatly before they die. This was the fate of Cecil the lion, a name known around the world, who 10 years ago suffered for over 10 hours after being wounded by a crossbow before he was finally tracked and shot dead. To avoid ‘tarnishing’ the trophy, hunters may let animals they’ve injured bleed to death, prolonging their suffering rather than putting them out of their misery.

Private Members Bills aiming to ban imports of hunting trophies have in the past been derailed by a handful of pro-hunting Peers in the House of Lords, and a current bill sponsored by David Reed MP has already suffered its first postponement. To stop the cruel and senseless import of hunting trophies, the Government must act on its manifesto commitment by introducing a Government Bill without delay.

Britta Jaschinski, who spoke at the opening of the Mall Galleries exhibition, has this message for people viewing her photographs:

“Caught-trapped-killed-mutilated dead animals to hang on walls and to display as status symbols? It’s deeply concerning that this not only our past but possibly our future too, unless we make the right choices. Please look at these photographs. Is this really how we envision the world around us? Right now we have an opportunity to bring positive change for animals and humans alike. Every species has a role to play in keeping the balance—the equilibrium we humans depend on.”

Britta’s images offer a disturbing look at a practice that lacks humanity; as one young visitor wrote: “The death of such a beautiful living soul is one very empty trophy.”. We invite politicians to share their own reactions on 20^th May, and join the call for the Government to keep its promise to wildlife.