Trump And Elephant Hunting Photos: Trump Gets Twitter Backlash Over African Elephant Trophies Decision
President Donald Trump is getting lots of backlash for reversing an Obama-era decision to protect elephants. According to the Washington Post, Trump’s administration told the public that African elephants were fair game in terms of hunters garnering elephant-hunting trophies that were once banned in certain African countries. Elephants under fire include those who are the subject of hunts in Zimbabwe and Zambia, which are now allowed to be brought into the U.S. as trophies.
Even though the African elephants are threatened according to the Endangered Species Act, the amount paid to hunt them could help place “revenue back into conservation.” In Zimbabwe, the population of African elephants has gone down six percent over the past few years, therefore, it’s not clear why the elephants would become legal fair game once more under Trump’s rule.
According to the Huffington Post, the Trump decision wasn’t initially made public by a government agency, but by Safari Club International – a group that advocates trophy hunting. In the wake of the decision to reverse the elephant trophy hunting ban, Trump is getting plenty of backlash on social media. Twitter users are reposting images of President Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, showing the men on their hunting adventures. One specific photo from 2012 shows Don holding a severed elephant’s tail from an African elephant that he shot and killed.
Trump reverses ban on hunters importing elephant trophies from Africa https://t.co/X4n2vlkSHX
— The Independent (@Independent) November 16, 2017
As seen in the below image from the New York Daily News, photos of Trump’s sons holding their hunting trophies are being posted aplenty on Twitter, along with the backlash that some social media users are lobbing toward the decision.
Not only does Trump not care about Americans, but he also could care less about any living being on this planet.https://t.co/yn55oJx8GG
— Adam B. Bear (@democraticbear) November 16, 2017
The disturbing photo of Don holding the tail of an elephant in Africa is gaining renewed backlash, as some people call the photo sad, while others are writing about how angry the photo is making them feel in the wake of Trump’s reversal on the trophy-hunting ban in certain African countries.
As seen in the top photo above, Trump’s supporters used a circus elephant with the wording “Trump Make America Great Again” to greet others during a campaign rally for the then-Republican presidential candidate on Saturday, November 28, in Sarasota, Florida.
[Featured Image by Steve Nesius/AP Images]
