President Donald Trump's administration announced Wednesday that trophies from legally hunted elephants can now be brought into the United States.
Although African elephants are considered "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now claims that hunting the animals in Zimbabwe and Zambia "will enhance the survival of the species in the wild," according to The Hill.
"Legal, well-regulated sport hunting as part of a sound management program can benefit the conservation of certain species by providing incentives to local communities to conserve the species and by putting much-needed revenue back into conservation," a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement.
Although pro-gun groups like the National Rifle Association hailed the decision, animal rights groups slammed the administration for reversing the policy set in place by Trump's predecessor.
"Let's be clear: elephants are on the list of threatened species; the global community has rallied to stem the ivory trade; and now, the U.S. government is giving American trophy hunters the green light to kill them," Wayne Pacelle, Humane Society of the United States president and chief executive, wrote in a blog post.
"What kind of message does it send to say to the world that poor Africans who are struggling to survive cannot kill elephants in order to use or sell their parts to make a living, but that it's just fine for rich Americans to slay the beasts for their tusks to keep as trophies?"
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