President Donald Trump says he’s delaying a new policy allowing the body parts of African elephants shot for sport to be imported until he can review “all conservation facts.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday that it will allow the importation of body parts from African elephants shot for sport. The agency said encouraging wealthy big-game hunters to kill the threatened species would help raise money for conservation programs.
Animal rights advocates and environmental groups criticized the decision. On Friday, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee urged the administration to reverse the policy, calling it the “wrong move at the wrong time.”
Trump tweeted that the policy had been “under study for years.” He says he will review the issue with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.
