Trophy hunting Q&A: How can killing animals help protect them? Why has Prince William been criticised?

The duke faced a backlash for describing the practice as 'a justifiable means of conserving species under serious threat'

Alex Dymoke 

Friday 18 March 2016

trafficking of wildlife goods, Prince William surprised many by coming out in defence of trophy hunting.

The duke was criticised for describing the practice as “a justifiable means of conserving species that are under serious threat” – but is it really such an unreasonable view?

What exactly is trophy hunting? 

A legal form of wildlife hunting in which “sportsmen” pay large sums of money for the right to kill animals and take home a trophy. If you’re willing to pay, and provided you abide by strict permit conditions and quotas, pretty much all African animals can be legally hunted in such a way. 

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Prince William's tour of China to promote animal rights ends in embarrassment

The Duke of Cambridge was unaware that the apparently wild animals had been trained to perform tricks for tourists

JENN SELBY 

Wednesday 04 March 2015

Prince William’s call for an end to animal abuses – including elephant poaching and environmental conservation – during his four-day tour of China received praise from campaigners.

His meeting with President Xi Jinping on Monday to discuss the matter came a week after a historic decision to ban ivory imports to China for a year, in the hope that it would ebb demand for the flow of African tusks coming into the country.

However, there is still no ban on ivory trade within the country, which, according to conservationists, allows the black market to thrive with or without importation, and makes the country one of the main protagonists in trade.

The final stop of the Duke of Cambridge’s trip, therefore, as Patron of the Tusk Trust, was a poignant one. He visited the Xishuangbanna Elephant Sanctuary in Yunnan Province, where 250 animals represent the only “wild” Asian elephants in China.

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Prince William attacks China over 'ignorant craving' for ivory

Researchers warn that ivory poachers are killing elephants faster than they are being born

IAN JOHNSTON

Monday 08 December 2014

Prince William is to launch a fierce attack on China’s ivory industry and the “ignorant craving” for supposed cures and trinkets, saying this is fuelling the slaughter of elephants and other animals by poachers.

Speaking at the World Bank International Corruption Hunters Alliance Conference in Washington on Monday, the Duke of Cambridge will describe the illegal wildlife trade as “one of the most insidious forms of corruption and criminality in the world today”.

And, potentially risking a diplomatic spat with Beijing, he will point out that the wholesale price of ivory in China has risen from about £3.20 a kilogram to about £1,350 a kilogram in 25 years. 

This, he will argue, has led to an increase in poaching.

According to excerpts of his speech released in advance, Prince William, who is due to go to China early next year, will say: “Some endangered species are now literally worth more than their weight in gold.

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Prince William calls for end to 'greed-driven poaching epidemic'

The Duke of Cambridge yesterday called on the world to halt Africa's "poaching epidemic" after he joined Labour leader Ed Miliband in becoming the latest public figures to back The Independent on Sunday's Christmas appeal.

The campaign, with support from our sister newspapers The Independent, the i paper and the Evening Standard, is raising funds to combat the illegal ivory trade presently killing around 100 elephants a day.

Prince William recently established United for Wildlife, an alliance of seven leading conservation bodies, to try to end poaching. He has previously warned that the "catastrophe" facing rhinos and other species could make them extinct within our lifetime.

"The poaching of rhino and elephants on an industrial scale is one of the great conservation crises of the 21st century," he told The Independent on Sunday. "The rate at which we are losing these animals is staggering and heartbreaking.

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William and Harry fly to Spain to hunt wild boar to celebrate the end of Harry’s helicopter training

They bagged themselves several brace of pheasant at Sandringham over Christmas.

But at the weekend Prince William and Prince Harry set their sights on bigger game.

The brothers flew to Spain on Friday for a secret hunting trip to celebrate the end of Harry's advanced helicopter training.

The royal pair were staying on an estate in the backwaters of rural Cordoba owned by the Duke of Westminster, Gerald Grosvenor, Britain's third-richest man and one of William's godfathers.

Finca La Garganta, near the village of Conquista, on the border of Castilla La Mancha, is one of the largest and most exclusive hunting estates in western Europe.

It is teeming with wildlife including wild boar and stag which William and Harry, both crack shots, are said to be keen to bag.

Beaters and packs of dogs were brought in to ensure that the princes did not return home without several 'kills' to their name.

The brothers have visited the estate before and last time were said to have bagged a staggering 740 partridge on a single day.

The second and third in line to the throne arrived in Spain on Friday on separate flights as they are not allowed to travel together in case of an accident.

William , 29, who was not believed to be accompanied by his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, flew into Seville while Harry, 27, arrived on a private jet at Cuidad Real Central later in the afternoon.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2087323/Princes-William-Harry-fly-Spain-secret-weekend-hunting-trip.html#ixzz2feCEaBU8

MoD defends decision to put down 'William' guard dogs

The Ministry of Defence has defended a decision to put down two guard dogs used to protect the Duke of Cambridge, days after he left his military base.

The Sun reported the dogs were put down following Prince William's final shift as a search-and-rescue pilot at RAF Valley, in Anglesey, last week.

The MoD said it always tried to rehome dogs but that it had not been possible in this case.

The Dogs Trust charity said dogs were not "kit that can be decommissioned".

The patrol dogs were said to have been part of a unit providing extra security at RAF Valley and were not providing sole protection for the duke.

Belgian shepherd Brus was at the end of his working life and Blade, a German shepherd, had "behavioural issues", said the MoD.

'Last resort'

The duke started his training at RAF Valley in January 2009 and graduated as a search-and-rescue pilot in September 2010.

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