Ban exports of hunting trophies

Overall effectiveness category Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

10%
Certainty

27%
Harms

0%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Trophy hunting is the hunting of wild animals for recreation. Usually, this involves large or otherwise distinguished animals, such as large carnivores, or species with large antlers. The animal, or part of it, is kept by the hunter, often for display. Some trophy hunting provides financial support to local communities or conservation, through locally levied fees (Minin et al. 2016). However, permitting exports of hunting trophies (often from developing countries to developed countries) may provide incentives for hunting at unsustainable levels (Lindsey et al. 2016) or may provide a route for importing illegally hunted trophies. Bans on trophy hunting exports are designed to remove this incentive and, hence, reduce incentives for the hunting of relevant species.

Lindsey P.A., Balme G.A., Funston P.F., Henschel P.H & Hunter L.T.B. (2016) Life after Cecil: channelling global outrage into funding for conservation in Africa. Conservation Letters, 9, 296–301.

Minin E.D., Leader-Williams N. & Bradshaw C.J.A. (2016) Banning trophy hunting will exacerbate biodiversity loss. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 31, 99–102.

Study locations

Key messages

One study evaluated the effects of banning exports of hunting trophies on wild mammals. This study was in Cameroon.

COMMUNITY RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

POPULATION RESPONSE (1 STUDY)

Abundance (1 study): A before-and-after study in Cameroon found similar hippopotamus abundances before and after a ban on exporting hippopotamus hunting trophies.

BEHAVIOUR (0 STUDIES)

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A before-and-after study in 2000–2014 along a river within and around Faro National Park, Cameroon (Scholte et al. 2017) found similar numbers of hippopotamuses Hippopotamus amphibious before and after a ban on exporting of hippopotamus hunting trophies. Results were not tested for statistical significance. Two years after a ban on exporting hippopotamus hunting trophies, 685 hippopotamuses were counted, compared with 647 hippopotamuses counted 12 years before the ban and 525 counted four years before the ban. CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) suspended exports of hippopotamus trophies from Cameroon in 2012. In March 2014, hippopotamuses were counted over three days in the dry season, along 97 km of the Faro River. Animals were counted between 07:30 and 17:30 h, by two teams of 2–3 observers. Observers walked through the riverbed at a speed of 1–4 km/hour. Similar counting methods were used in 2000 and 2008 (twelve and four years before the ban respectively) but precise details are not given.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Scholte P., Nguimkeng F. & Iyah E. (2017) Good news from north-central Africa: largest population of vulnerable common hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphibius is stable. Oryx, 51, 218-221.

Please cite as:

Littlewood, N.A., Rocha, R., Smith, R.K., Martin, P.A., Lockhart, S.L., Schoonover, R.F., Wilman, E., Bladon, A.J., Sainsbury, K.A., Pimm S. and Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Terrestrial Mammal Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions for terrestrial mammals excluding bats and primates. Synopses of Conservation Evidence Series. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Terrestrial Mammal Conservation

Related Actions

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Ban private ownership of hunted mammals Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	1	Synopsis Link
Incentivise species protection through licensed trophy hunting Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	1	Synopsis Link
Set hunting quotas based on target species population trends Action Link	Likely to be beneficial	3	Synopsis Link