u s fish and wildlife service
Advocates 'Crushed' That Biden Import Rules Don't Ban Elephant Trophies
The new restrictions will do nothing to solve "a devastating biodiversity crisis that requires an elephant-sized response," said one campaigner.
Biodiversity advocates said Friday that the Biden administration had taken "a major step back from true conservation accountability" as it announced new restrictions on imports of elephant hunting trophies—restrictions that did not go as far as banning them outright.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said it was strengthening the African elephant rule under Section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act, requiring countries to annually certify that their elephant populations are "biologically sustainable" and that habitats for the animals are stable. The U.S. will continue importing trophies and live elephants from countries that prove sustainability.
The restrictions also require countries to have domestic wildlife laws that meet the requirements of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), but that provision doesn't go into effect until 2026.
The restrictions could eliminate trophy imports from Botswana, Mozambique, and Zambia, which currently have national legislation that may not meet CITES requirements.
A previous proposal from the administration in 2022 required that elephant populations were "stable or increasing" in countries in order for imports to continue.
Tanya Sanerib, international legal director for the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), said the new rules will do nothing to solve "a devastating biodiversity crisis that requires an elephant-sized response."
"These are mouse-sized rule changes that continue to treat elephants like commodities," said Sanerib. "We need global change that prioritizes biodiversity over profits."
CBD pledged to "do everything we can to fight threats to imperiled elephants from trophy hunting."
The new restrictions were announced almost exactly three years after the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reassessed protections for elephants, and found that poaching for ivory and habitat loss over several decades had pushed two elephant species closer to extinction.
The African forest elephant is now "critically endangered" and the African savanna elephant is now listed as "endangered." Before 2021, the two kinds of African elephants were treated as a single species and were listed only as "vulnerable."
The Obama administration in 2016 imposed a near-ban on the elephant ivory trade.
The following year, then-President Donald Trump infuriated conservation groups by reversing the ban on imported elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia, a decision he quickly reverse due to the uproar it caused. In 2018, the Republican president said the FWS would begin issuing permits "to import a sport-hunted trophy on a case-by-case basis."
Sanerib on Friday said she and her organization were "crushed this rule doesn't ban trade in elephant hunting trophies to the United States, and it doesn't even require stable elephant populations to allow trophy imports."
"These magnificent animals are globally cherished but under threat," said Sanerib, "and it's high time we stop letting wealthy trophy hunters turn them into décor."
Wildlife Champions Say Biden Species Protections Not Enough to Reverse Trump Rollbacks
"The administration's proposal does nothing to address the fact that endangered species are dying a death by a thousand cuts," said one campaigner.
While some wildlife defenders on Wednesday welcomed proposed Biden administration regulations aimed at reversing some Trump-era rollbacks of the Endangered Species Act, others voiced disappointment that the new rules won't undo much of the damage inflicted by the previous administration.
Rules proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries would make it more difficult to remove a species from the endangered list, while restoring a provision of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that safeguards species listed as "threatened"—one classification level below "endangered."
Additionally, one of the proposals contains a provision prohibiting consideration of economic impacts when determining whether to protect species. Another rule would enable the designation of critical habitat for climate-impacted species.
"As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, we need bold, transformative action, not more policy half-measures."
"These proposed revisions reaffirm our commitment to conserving America's wildlife and ensuring the Endangered Species Act works for both species and people," USFWS Director Martha Williams said in a statement.
NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit said that "these proposed regulatory updates will help ensure the [ESA] continues to serve as an effective conservation tool in the face of continued challenges, including biodiversity loss and climate change."
Defenders of Wildlife, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, was among the organizations welcoming the administration's proposal.
"While areas of concern exist within these new regulations, restoring automatic protections for our nation's threatened species is a huge step in the right direction for the Endangered Species Act and biodiversity," Jamie Rappaport Clark, the group's president and CEO, said in a statement.
"As humans, we are inextricably linked with the ecosystems around us," added Clark, a former USFWS director. "Saving nature and establishing scientifically sound ways to coexist with wildlife must be a national priority. Our future depends on it."
Washington, D.C.-based legal advocate Earthjustice argued the proposals don't go far enough.
"These are promising steps toward restoring the purpose and power of the Endangered Species Act, and getting these protections back is why we challenged the harmful Trump rules for the past four years," Earthjustice attorney Kristen Boyles said in a statement.
"By mending the rules interpreting the ESA, the Biden administration can significantly help us address the worsening biodiversity crisis and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the act," Boyles added.
The Tucson, Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) criticized the Biden administration for "keeping in place some of the most significant rollbacks" of the ESA.
"This disappointing proposal fails to protect our nation's endangered plants and animals. It restores pieces of the Endangered Species Act but keeps many of the disastrous Trump-era provisions in place," CBD senior endangered species policy specialist Stephanie Kurose said in a statement.
"The administration’s proposal does nothing to address the fact that endangered species are dying a death by a thousand cuts," Kurose continued. "This is a major omission that shortchanges not only species like the spotted owl, but also the ecosystems they and all of us depend on for our survival."
"If federal officials truly wanted to stem the extinction crisis, they'd restore the full power of the [ESA] and overhaul the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service," Kurose added. "As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, we need bold, transformative action, not more policy half-measures."
Former President Donald Trump—currently the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination—oversaw what one environmental campaigner at the time called a "steamrolling" of the ESA, "our most effective wildlife protection law."