Trump's Fish and Wildlife Service lifts ban on elephant trophies

In another movie-villain move, the Trump administration is allowing imported elephant trophies from African nations, reversing previous promises to keep the Obama-era ban in place. According to a memo released by the U.S. Department of the Interior's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency will now make trophy import decisions on a case-by-case basis. In doing so, it is circumventing an order by the D.C. Circuit Court for all enhancement findings—information that shows how hunting will impact the survival of a species in the wild—to go through public comments. With this new process, determinations to allow trophy imports will be made in a manner that lacks transparency and is subject to even less judicial scrutiny and public review. This news will likely be unpopular: The last time the Trump administration lifted the ban, it drew international outcry, with celebrities taking up the cause and the #bekindtoelephants hashtag going viral.