Leading scientists have warned that global conservation is being undermined by celebrity power after they suffered death threats and abuse in a hostile dispute over trophy hunting.
Groups such as the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting and Born Free are pressuring the UK and US governments to ban trophy hunting, with support from many famous names, much of the public and more than 150 MPs across the political spectrum.
Many of them signed an open letter calling for a ban, which scientists say contained misleading information.
Several scientists told the Guardian that poor political decision-making and abuse directed at them are being fuelled by what they describe as “myths driven by emotion and morality that ignore critical facts”.
They also warn that well-meaning but ill-informed campaigning on the emotive issue risks imperilling millions of acres of wildlife habitat and African livelihoods.
Although poorly regulated trophy hunting has had a negative impact historically on some wildlife populations, there is wide evidence, including from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), that for many threatened species such as the black rhino, white rhino, lion and markhor, well-regulated trophy hunting has brought population increases and reduced larger threats. Conservationists say that when habitats are managed for hunting, it can protect many other endangered species living in the same area.
In 2019, 133 leading scientists and community representatives warned in a letter to the journal Science that banning hunting without implementing viable alternatives to protect habitat and generate revenue for local communities would imperil biodiversity.
Although poorly regulated trophy hunting has had a negative impact historically on some wildlife populations, there is wide evidence, including from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), that for many threatened species such as the black rhino, white rhino, lion and markhor, well-regulated trophy hunting has brought population increases and reduced larger threats. Conservationists say that when habitats are managed for hunting, it can protect many other endangered species living in the same area.
In 2019, 133 leading scientists and community representatives warned in a letter to the journal Science that banning hunting without implementing viable alternatives to protect habitat and generate revenue for local communities would imperil biodiversity.
The scientists involved say this has led to a wave of abuse, including from anti-hunting campaign groups and celebrities. Dr Amy Dickman, a lion conservationist from Oxford University who has received funding from both pro- and anti-hunting groups, was the first author on the Science letter and said she had received numerous verbal attacks.
The actor and animal welfare campaigner Peter Egan called her “a very limited scientist”, while others accused her of being a “paid mouthpiece” for hunting or called her “a monster” and “a twisted sadistic bitch”. Dickman claims another said they would love to see her face ripped off by lions.
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