FoA to elephant killers: Enough is enough!

Friends of Animals (FoA) and the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force have filed a motion to intervene in the Safari Club International’s (SCI) and National Rifle Association’s (NRA) court case challenging the Zimbabwe African elephant importation ban issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). In early 2014, USFWS issued a suspension on the issuance of permits to import sport-hunted elephants from Zimbabwe and Tanzania under Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act. SCI and the NRA are seeking to get the court to overturn those suspensions.

Michael Harris, director of FoA’s Wildlife Law Program, calls this by far one of the most outlandish cases ever brought by the hunting community. 

“African elephants have been the subject of torture and killing for centuries, and while most American’s now wish to preserve those elephants still remaining in places like Zimbabwe, the Safari Club and the NRA apparently can’t sit still until every elephant that has walked the earth is shot and mounted in some rich man’s living room,” Harris said. “Friends of Animals and the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force want hunters to hear one thing loud and clear: Enough is enough! These amazing, intelligent animals have the right to exist free from human harassment.”

The motion to intervene states that FoA and the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force will bring a unique perspective to this litigation, with regards to defending the merits of USFWS’ suspensions, and most importantly, with respect to the on the ground ramifications of granting SCI’s and NRA’s requested relief.