Even Trump Loyalist Laura Ingraham Doesn’t Understand Ending the Ban on Elephant Trophies

Laura Ingraham is a reliable Trump stooge, so I’m going to take this as her attempt to play up to the notion that she’s a “bold” free-thinker. She’s got a new show on Fox to promote, after all.

She’s not wrong, here.

Of all the Obama administration decisions that legitimately warrant moves to overturn, the ban on bringing to the U.S. trophies from killing elephants in several African nations was one that should have been left alone. Unfortunately, the Trump administration felt otherwise.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said it has determined that hunting African elephants in Zimbabwe and Zambia “will enhance the survival of the species in the wild,” which is the standard by which officials judge whether to allow imports of parts — known as trophies — of the animals.

“Legal, well-regulated sport hunting as part of a sound management program can benefit the conservation of certain species by providing incentives to local communities to conserve the species and by putting much-needed revenue back into conservation,” an FWS spokesman said in a statement late Wednesday, after hunting group Safari Club International announced the policy.

It’s not like they’re deer, with an overpopulation that could threaten the well-being of the species, as a whole, due to a shortage of adequate amounts of food and living space for all.

On Thursday morning, Ingraham tweeted out her own dissatisfaction with the decision.

I don’t understand how this move by @realDonaldTrump Admin will not INCREASE the gruesome poaching of elephants. Stay tuned. https://t.co/KqizmlgaGg

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) November 16, 2017

That’s because it won’t decrease poaching, at all. It will absolutely be exploited by poachers.

Imports of elephant trophies (like the elephant tail being displayed in one picture of Donald Trump Jr.) killed between January 21, 2016, through the end of 2018 will soon be allowed.

This is an effort to promote hunting by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

“Some of my best memories are hunting and fishing with my dad and granddad, and then later teaching my own kids to hunt and fish. That’s something I want more families to experience,” Zinke said in a September statement in which he announced that the arcade game Big Buck Hunter would be temporarily installed in the department’s headquarters.

How nice for you.

I actually come from a family of hunters, and I have no problem with hunting, overall.

I’m a bit concerned about creating an atmosphere where poaching vulnerable species could be more easily facilitated, all with the U.S. government’s stamp of approval.

The post Even Trump Loyalist Laura Ingraham Doesn’t Understand Ending the Ban on Elephant Trophies appeared first on RedState.