The baby and the bathwater: Trophy hunting, conservation and rural livelihoods

There is substantial evidence that the controversial practice of trophy hunting can produce positive outcomes for wildlife conservation and local people. A wide variety of species is subject to trophy hunting, from common to threatened.. Trophy hunting is also frequently conflated with poaching for the organized international illegal wildlife trade that is devastating many species, including the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) and African rhinos. The prices paid for trophy hunts vary enormously, from the equivalent of hundreds to hundreds of thousands of United States dollars; at a global scale, such hunts involve a substantial revenue flow from developed to developing countries. Well-managed trophy hunting can be a positive driver of conservation because it increases the value of wildlife and the habitats it depends on, providing crucial benefits that can motivate and enable sustainable management approaches. It can generate revenue for wildlife management and conservation, including anti-poaching activities, for governmental, private and communal landholders. In most regions, government agencies depend at least in part on revenues from hunting to manage wildlife and protected areas. The incentives and revenues from trophy hunting programs are not just important for the conservation of hunted species: site protection exercises a 'biodiversity umbrella' effect and may help conserve non-hunted species, too.