About The SCI
Safari Club International (SCI) is both the world's largest trophy hunting organization and the largest Sportsmen-led Political Action Committee in America.
Every year SCI holds an auction known as the"Ultimate Hunters' Market".
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During this event, trophy hunters get a chance to pick and choose what animals they would like to kill from a variety of at least 600 different species including animals that are listed as threatened or endangered.
The “Ultimate Hunters’ Market” is SCI’s largest fundraising event of the year. The majority of funds generated at this venue are used secretly to influence elections and/or legislation, primarily at a federal level.
SCI EXPOSED
SCI alleges its primary mission is to protect the freedom to hunt and to promote wildlife conservation, yet they have ties to the energy industry which includes mining, drilling, and logging all of which are a detriment to the environment and wildlife. SCI’s affiliation with these industries is an apparent conflict of interest with the hunters and anglers who are their prime constituents, as well as, their claim of being conservation driven.
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Safari Club International has been publicized in highly controversial incidents where members of their organization have engaged in poaching. Perhaps, the most controversial of these cases is that of Cecil’ the Lion.
SCI feeds the dark underbelly of a corrupt and powerful industry that capitalizes off the thrill of the kill. The only difference between a poacher and a trophy hunter is money and status.
We have the power of public opinion, science, and facts on our side. Help us expose SCI and their false narrative of conservation.
SCI claims that hunting equals conservation because it generates economic activity which helps pay for the costs of conservation. They say that if there is no value placed on wild animals, then there will be no incentive to protect them.
When a species' greatest value is in its death, its days will inescapably be numbered, just as they are with poachers who place value on their body parts like ivory tusks, tiger skins, and rhino horn. Killing animals for their body parts devalues their lives and makes protecting them from poachers near impossible.
A case that illustrates the hypocrisy of trophy hunting is when the Dallas Safari Club, auctioned off the right to kill one of the last black rhinos for over a quarter million dollars in the name of "conservation."
SCI claims the money obtained through trophy hunting goes towards conservation efforts, protecting endangered species, and helping local communities. The truth is only about 3% of revenue generated by trophy hunting makes its way into local communities. The remaining 97% of the revenue goes towards a number of expenses including administration costs, firms, national and international stakeholders, government agencies, and corrupt government officials who often pocket the money.
There is no evidence to support the claim that trophy hunting funds, directly support conservation efforts, or that it helps save wildlife.
SCIENCE
Trophy hunters are part of a growing trend called "evolution in reverse."
Trophy hunters are not natural predators and work against the grain of nature. The animals targeted by trophy hunters are the largest animals with the most prominent manes, tusks, antlers, and horns, this allows for the survival of weaker smaller animals.
Scientists have emphasized that sport-hunted populations of species like bighorn sheep now have smaller horns than those of 30 years ago, and big tusked elephants are now a rarity due to decades of trophy hunting and poaching. Research has also shown that when dominant male lions are killed, it disrupts the hierarchy of their pride and can result in the death of other pride members.
SOLUTION
Eco-tourism plays a vital economic role in places such as Africa.
Many African countries and governments are taking action against trophy hunting. They have seen the declining populations of wildlife due to trophy hunting and understand that wildlife generates more revenue through eco-tourism than trophy hunting.
Anti-poaching units (APUs) are helping to educate local communities on the importance of protecting their native wildlife. Many APUs are offering training and pay to help protect endangered and threatened species.
SCI IN THE NEWS
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Of Farmers, Hunters, Oil Money and the Double Secret Déjà Vu Shuffle
“The CAP report details show how oil and gas companies are leveraging three groups in particular—Safari Club International (SCI), Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation (CSF), and the National Rifle Association (NRA)—to attain "an increasingly active and vocal role in advancing energy industry priorities, even when those positions are in apparent conflict with the interests of hunters and anglers who are their rank-and-file members." In Public-Land Protests and Their Big-Energy Puppet Masters by Mary Catherine O’Connor in The Current May 2014"
Elephant poaching partner of former Dallas Safari Club official facing federal criminal charges
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Group Lobbying To End Trophy Hunting Ban Is Alarmingly Close With Ryan Zinke
"WASHINGTON — Along with receiving thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Safari Club International while running for Congress, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke spoke at the hunting advocacy group’s 2016 veterans breakfast, had a notable photo-op with its director of litigation on his first day as head of the Interior Department, and dined with its vice president in Alaska earlier this year."