James.Grage
AH legend
News Reports on Zimbabwe Trophy Import Ban Are False
(posted January 27, 2016)
A "news report" claiming the US has banned all Zimbabwe trophy hunting imports sparked a flurry of inquiries from Hunting Report subscribers over the last two days. The original story, which was published by the Zimbabwe-based newspaper The Standard is entirely false. The story was also picked up by South Africa-based online media outlet allAfrica.
The truth is, there has been no change in the US Fish and Wildlife Service's policy regarding Zimbabwe trophy imports. We received this assurance from Public Affairs Specialist Laury Parramore at the USFWS. The one possible kernel of truth behind this story is that elephant trophy imports from Zim are still under suspension. Hunting Report readers should be well aware of this: see Article 3545 in our database.
The Standard story seems to have originated from another story run by the Associated Press, which also falsely stated that all trophy imports from Zimbabwe would be banned. The AP story has been picked up by an ABC news website and other online outlets.
The original AP story uses comments from US Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell in a misleading fashion to suggest that she made statements on the supposed ban. In our discussion with USFWS, it seemed clear that Secretary Jewell's comments were made in reference to the 2014 negative enhancement finding for elephant trophies. We were unable to reach the Department of Interior for comment.
Obviously, this is just another of many examples of flawed mainstream media coverage on hunting issues surrounding Africa over the last year. If any major changes in wildlife policy are announced, Hunting Report subscribers will be among the first to know.
(posted January 27, 2016)
A "news report" claiming the US has banned all Zimbabwe trophy hunting imports sparked a flurry of inquiries from Hunting Report subscribers over the last two days. The original story, which was published by the Zimbabwe-based newspaper The Standard is entirely false. The story was also picked up by South Africa-based online media outlet allAfrica.
The truth is, there has been no change in the US Fish and Wildlife Service's policy regarding Zimbabwe trophy imports. We received this assurance from Public Affairs Specialist Laury Parramore at the USFWS. The one possible kernel of truth behind this story is that elephant trophy imports from Zim are still under suspension. Hunting Report readers should be well aware of this: see Article 3545 in our database.
The Standard story seems to have originated from another story run by the Associated Press, which also falsely stated that all trophy imports from Zimbabwe would be banned. The AP story has been picked up by an ABC news website and other online outlets.
The original AP story uses comments from US Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell in a misleading fashion to suggest that she made statements on the supposed ban. In our discussion with USFWS, it seemed clear that Secretary Jewell's comments were made in reference to the 2014 negative enhancement finding for elephant trophies. We were unable to reach the Department of Interior for comment.
Obviously, this is just another of many examples of flawed mainstream media coverage on hunting issues surrounding Africa over the last year. If any major changes in wildlife policy are announced, Hunting Report subscribers will be among the first to know.
