Spain is second highest importer of lion hunting trophies, new report finds

SPAIN is the second highest importer of lion hunting trophies.

A new report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare shows that between 2004 and 2013, 11,000 lion ‘trophies’ were traded globally.

The US imported 71% of the ‘mementos’ – which include the animal’s head or entire body – while Spain and Germany bought 5%.

Conservationists are calling for a blanket ban on all hunting trophies of threatened animals, including the African lion, whose numbers are now down to less than 20,000.