THE BRITISH Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers to ban the import of puffin trophies.
Spokesman Eduardo Goncalves told the Sunday Telegraph: “The puffin is now in danger of becoming extinct, and uncontrolled hunting has been identified as a leading cause.
“There should be an immediate moratorium imposed before it is too late.”
He added: “Puffins are one of the best-loved birds in the world . People travel the world to photograph them. Now it seems trophy hunters travel the world to shoot them too.
“Scientists say they are in serious trouble. Populations are falling, and far fewer are coming to Britain’s shorelines. The last thing they need is for trophy hunters to shoot them in huge numbers just for fun.”
Just can’t understand why anyone would want to shoot them. Mad
Carrie Symonds
Mr Goncalves also called on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to classify puffins as a protected species at its conference next month.
The population of Icelandic puffins has has plummeted from seven million to 5.4 million in a decade.
Nearly 600,000 puffins live in the UK, representing roughly a tenth of the world population.
‘ABHORRENT’
Sir Roger Gale, chairman of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, said puffin hunting was “abhorrent”.
He told the Telegraph : “I don’t believe in trophy hunting at all for any species. I don’t think there is any excuse for it.
“I believe there is much more tourism to be generated by preservation and conservation rather than by killing puffins.”
Ms Symonds is moving into the flat above No 11 Downing Street with Mr Johnson after he became the country’s new leader.
After weeks of speculation, Ms Symonds stood with aides as Mr Johnson delivered his first speech as PM in Downing Street.
