Donald Trump has just lifted the ban we had on importing elephant trophies for big game hunters, such as ivory tusks. Since his sons are big into killing animals purely for the fun of it, I knew this was bound to happen sooner or later. It just helps pave the way to the extinction of elephants sooner rather than later, since they are already highly endangered. This is just par for the course in the current administration.

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Nice try.... but

The Trump administration is reversing an Obama-era ban on hunters importing trophies of elephants killed in Zambia and Zimbabwe during government-approved big-game expeditions.

Maybe you should take issue with the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe

Also... not killing Elephants for "fun"

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I'm split on it.

I don't like the killing of these animals on principle..

But the hunters do have to pay $25,000 - $50,000 for the "right" to hunt one of them legally and allegedly all that money goes to supporting conservation of the animals in Africa...

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I'm split on it.

I don't like the killing of these animals on principle..

But the hunters do have to pay $25,000 - $50,000 for the "right" to hunt one of them legally and allegedly all that money goes to supporting conservation of the animals in Africa...

Bingo.

It's legal.

I'm not a big game hunter. Hell, I'm actually against domestication of animals...

But the law is the law. If it's done legal, what is the problem with allowing the imports?

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But the hunters do have to pay $25,000 - $50,000 for the "right" to hunt one of them legally and allegedly all that money goes to supporting conservation of the animals in Africa...

Sounds a bit hypocritical

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But the hunters do have to pay $25,000 - $50,000 for the "right" to hunt one of them legally and allegedly all that money goes to supporting conservation of the animals in Africa...

Sounds a bit hypocritical

A little but it makes sense when you think about local Africans putting a few dozen AK47 bullets in an Elephant, cut the Ivory right from its face and get paid $300 for it from, more than likely, a Chinese ivory dealer.

One American/European Big Game hunter paying over $25,000 for one Elephant buys a lot of security against those local Africans.

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At what point does "It's wrong to pump a critically endangered animal full of lead for funsies," stop being suitable reason to leave the ban in place?

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At what point does "It's wrong to pump a critically endangered animal full of lead for funsies," stop being suitable reason to leave the ban in place?

When it's not?

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

Nice try.... but

The Trump administration is reversing an Obama-era ban on hunters importing trophies of elephants killed in Zambia and Zimbabwe during government-approved big-game expeditions.

Maybe you should take issue with the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe

Also... not killing Elephants for "fun"

Yes, killing elephants for fun. Why else would you kill an endangered species? Are you gonna bring the meat home and make elephant burgers? I am a hunter and what I kill, I eat, (squirrel, rabbit, deer.) Big game hunters sicken me almost as much as poachers and often the two go hand in hand. Do I approve of what the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe are doing? No, but the U.S. has no control over what they do. I'm only concerned about America and by lifting this ban, we are contributing to the slaughter of endangered species. It's not like the world is overrun with elephants and they need population control. The numbers are low enough that the populations can regulate themselves.

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I'm split on it.

I don't like the killing of these animals on principle..

But the hunters do have to pay $25,000 - $50,000 for the "right" to hunt one of them legally and allegedly all that money goes to supporting conservation of the animals in Africa...

Taking away from a small population, so you can save the animals that are left makes no sense.

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Sounds a bit hypocritical

A little but it makes sense when you think about local Africans putting a few dozen AK47 bullets in an Elephant, cut the Ivory right from its face and get paid $300 for it from, more than likely, a Chinese ivory dealer.

One American/European Big Game hunter paying over $25,000 for one Elephant buys a lot of security against those local Africans.

If you shoot the poachers on site and leave the bodies on stakes as warning to other poachers, you knock down the problem.

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I'm split on it.

I don't like the killing of these animals on principle..

But the hunters do have to pay $25,000 - $50,000 for the "right" to hunt one of them legally and allegedly all that money goes to supporting conservation of the animals in Africa...

Bingo.

It's legal.

I'm not a big game hunter. Hell, I'm actually against domestication of animals...

But the law is the law. If it's done legal, what is the problem with allowing the imports?

Because these animals are already endangered. How hard is that to realize? Legal or not, that doesn't make it right. It's called, morals. Something Trump is severely lacking.

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I'm split on it.

I don't like the killing of these animals on principle..

But the hunters do have to pay $25,000 - $50,000 for the "right" to hunt one of them legally and allegedly all that money goes to supporting conservation of the animals in Africa...

Taking away from a small population, so you can save the animals that are left makes no sense.

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OK. Well, without accepting the large sums of money people are willing to pay to hunt these animals, many of them will go out of business. THEN no one will be left to protect the rest of them.

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Taking away from a small population, so you can save the animals that are left makes no sense.

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OK. Well, without accepting the large sums of money people are willing to pay to hunt these animals, many of them will go out of business. THEN no one will be left to protect the rest of them.

Fine, let them go out of business. Many of the people who protect these animals do so as volunteers.

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Pardon my big game ignorance, but is shooting a 12,000 target that moves slower than a Ford Pinto an accomplishment worthy of praise?

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Pardon my big game ignorance, but is shooting a 12,000 target that moves slower than a Ford Pinto an accomplishment worthy of praise?

It's  not, but neither is trophy hunting the reason for their endangerment either.

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

No, it's the Chinese Ivory trade.

Local Africans are paid very little to slaughter all kinds of animals - but it's still "easy" money.

The Big Game Hunters, in constrast, kill only what they are allowed to by the local government who takes the money to hire basically soldiers to literally kill the poachers.

It's a messed up system all around. But there's no other way to stop the poachers (who, once again, live in those countries).

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Pardon my big game ignorance, but is shooting a 12,000 target that moves slower than a Ford Pinto an accomplishment worthy of praise?

It's  not, but neither is trophy hunting the reason for their endangerment either.

It's a contributor. Ivory poachers and human infringement on their land are the biggest factors in their dwindling numbers, which make it all the more senseless that they are allowed to be hunted. Why? Because someone has so much bloodlust that they want to kill a creature that they can't eat for food, but simply want the thrill of ending its life? Elephants have a gestation period of 22 months, so it's not like they can get their numbers back up quickly, once the population is depleted.

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No, it's the Chinese Ivory trade.

Local Africans are paid very little to slaughter all kinds of animals - but it's still "easy" money.

The Big Game Hunters, in constrast, kill only what they are allowed to by the local government who takes the money to hire basically soldiers to literally kill the poachers.

It's a messed up system all around. But there's no other way to stop the poachers (who, once again, live in those countries).

Poachers could easily be stopped if the local Africans are given some types of incentives to help save the animals, instead of slaughtering them for the ivory. It's all about greed. The Chinese are the biggest wildlife criminals in the world. The they kill endangered elephants and rhinos for their ivory, the kill endangered tigers for their penises and they kill endangered bears for their gall bladders. I believe the ban lifting was part of the deal Trump made with the Chinese this week. Furthering my theory that he doesn't have a soul.

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No, it's the Chinese Ivory trade.

Local Africans are paid very little to slaughter all kinds of animals - but it's still "easy" money.

The Big Game Hunters, in constrast, kill only what they are allowed to by the local government who takes the money to hire basically soldiers to literally kill the poachers.

It's a messed up system all around. But there's no other way to stop the poachers (who, once again, live in those countries).

Poachers could easily be stopped if the local Africans are given some types of incentives to help save the animals, instead of slaughtering them for the ivory. It's all about greed. The Chinese are the biggest wildlife criminals in the world. The they kill endangered elephants and rhinos for their ivory, the kill endangered tigers for their penises and they kill endangered bears for their gall bladders. I believe the ban lifting was part of the deal Trump made with the Chinese this week. Furthering my theory that he doesn't have a soul.

The saddest thing is the poachers are usually criminals anyway totally uninterested in working honestly.

We are a crappy species no doubt about it.

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No, it's the Chinese Ivory trade.

Local Africans are paid very little to slaughter all kinds of animals - but it's still "easy" money.

The Big Game Hunters, in constrast, kill only what they are allowed to by the local government who takes the money to hire basically soldiers to literally kill the poachers.

It's a messed up system all around. But there's no other way to stop the poachers (who, once again, live in those countries).

Poachers could easily be stopped if the local Africans are given some types of incentives to help save the animals, instead of slaughtering them for the ivory. It's all about greed. The Chinese are the biggest wildlife criminals in the world. The they kill endangered elephants and rhinos for their ivory, the kill endangered tigers for their penises and they kill endangered bears for their gall bladders. I believe the ban lifting was part of the deal Trump made with the Chinese this week. Furthering my theory that he doesn't have a soul.

You mean like the incentives that the fees for legal hunts bring in? Or something else that doesn't offend your own personal sense of morality? And there's really no need to address the overwhelming confirmation bias in your last two statements.

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

Bingo.

It's legal.

I'm not a big game hunter. Hell, I'm actually against domestication of animals...

But the law is the law. If it's done legal, what is the problem with allowing the imports?

Because these animals are already endangered. How hard is that to realize? Legal or not, that doesn't make it right. It's called, morals. Something Trump is severely lacking.

Morals are not universal they are relative. Sorry.

Also... it isn't for fun. There's a lot of big game hunting that is done and the money raised goes toward conservation efforts. 

But hey... there's no Russia collusion, there's a fake dossier, we're running out of things to reasonably argue against this administration, gotta find something to cry about.

News flash, even if Trump didn't lift this ban (that was only put in place BY Obama) the hunting would still go on.

You're right they are endangered species. But your problem should be with those governments that allow the hunting. Not with Trump allowing the imports. If the hunting wasn't allowed, there wouldn't be anything to import.

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No, it's the Chinese Ivory trade.

Local Africans are paid very little to slaughter all kinds of animals - but it's still "easy" money.

The Big Game Hunters, in constrast, kill only what they are allowed to by the local government who takes the money to hire basically soldiers to literally kill the poachers.

It's a messed up system all around. But there's no other way to stop the poachers (who, once again, live in those countries).

 Furthering my theory that he doesn't have a soul.

It is a theory of many on the left that no one has a soul.

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