The Trump administration will now consider imports of elephant trophies from Africa into the US on a case-by-case basis, according to US wildlife officials.
The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced it will withdraw a previous embargo for trophies of African elephants, "effective immediately".
It will instead "grant or deny permits to import a sport-hunted trophy on a case-by-case basis".
US media is reporting the move as a backflip for US President Donald Trump, who earlier promised to maintain an Obama-era ban on the practice.
In an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, Trump said previously he "didn't want elephants killed and stuffed and have the tusks brought back into this (country) and people can talk all they want about preservation and all of the things that they're saying where money goes towards ― well, money was going ― in that case, going to a government which was probably taking the money, OK?"
In November, Trump tweeted that he was putting any changes "on hold", effectively leaving Obama's ban in place.
But the new announcement said trophies from elephants hunted in several African countries would be eligible for consideration.
The service also announced it was modifying a number of other embargos, dating back to 1995, related to trophies of African elephants, bontebok and lions from multiple African countries.
Donald Trump Jr. with the tail of an elephant he killed during a 2011 hunting trip. Source: HUNTINGLEGENDS.COM/HUNTING LEGENDS
