Last week we finally received a response to our letters to Lord Goldsmith, asking him, as a DEFRA Minister, to explain why the UK Government is STILL not publishing the results of the Public Consultation launched on November 25th 2019 as to whether the UK should continue to import and export hunting trophies.
You all may remember that two days before the closing date of the 25th January, they suddenly extended the Consultation for a further four weeks, to the 25th February. Defra then, after being questioned by us and by Parliamentary Questions posed by their fellow MPs, suddenly announced that the results would be published “within 12 weeks”.
So where are we?
It’s now 16 WEEKS since the 12-week deadline promised. We have written again twice to Lord Goldsmith, pressuring him to respond to us. We received a reply ONLY last week. In his reply he says “there will be a delay in publishing the summary of responses to the Consultation”.
Yet again, the UK Government repeats what they have always done over the past ten years since we started asking them to bring in a ban on the import of lion hunting trophies, they HAVE KICKED THE ISSUE BACK INTO THE LONG GRASS.
Not good enough.
And more than that, by actively inviting African Commonwealth lion range States to respond to their Public Consultation, we strongly believe that their total silence and inaction now SENDS A MESSAGE TO AFRICA THAT THE UK CONDONES LION TROPHY HUNTING.
Lions don’t have the luxury of time before the UK decision becomes largely academic. They will be extinct – in fact they are already extinct in at least 25 countries and virtually extinct in a further ten last time we conducted an evaluation. (If you would like to see our report on this, email us on info@lionaid.org and we will send you the report.)
So we have now written again today to a group of UK MPs who we know are very concerned about the continuation of lion hunting trophies entering the UK and urging them to add their own voices and pressure to the UK Government to stop avoiding the issue and bring in the much needed BAN on the import of lion hunting trophies into the UK.
Please ask all your friends, family and colleagues to sign the petition. Let’s get it to ONE MILLION SIGNATURES. We all need to keep up the pressure now.
The anniversary of the killing of Cecil the Lion is on July 1st. Let’s try and move mountains by then and make the UK Government keep their promises. Do remember the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, pledged his Government in the Queen’s Speech to ban the import of hunting trophies of endangered and vulnerable species.
HE NEEDS TO GET IT DONE.
We will keep you posted when we receive any replies to our latest letter.