The White House says it hasn't yet finalised a decision to allow trophy hunters who kill elephants in two African countries to bring the endangered animals home as trophies, a move that had outraged US conservation groups.
The planned move, disclosed this week by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, had triggered protests from conservation groups and a frenzy on social media. Opponents posted pictures of US President Donald Trump's sons Donald Jr and Eric, who are avid hunters, posing with the cut-off tail of a slain elephant and other dead wild animals on Twitter.
"There hasn't been an announcement that's been finalised on this front," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters when asked about the reported policy shift on Thursday. "Until that's done I wouldn't consider anything final."
Conservation groups had blasted the move as further imperilling an already endangered species.
"I'm shocked and outraged," Elly Pepper, a deputy director of the National Resources Defense Counsel, said in a phone interview. "I expect nothing less from our president, and if he thinks this is going to go down without a fight, he's wrong."
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The group, which does not oppose all hunting, is considering bringing legal action to block the policy change, Pepper said.
The move would reverse a policy implemented by the Republican president's Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, the US Fish and Wildlife Service disclosed at a meeting in Tanzania organised by a pro-trophy hunting group that it would allow the import of trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia through 2018.
Advocates for big-game hunting contend it can help preserve wildlife by generating income for poor countries that can promote conservation and improve the lives of impoverished people.
