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WildCRU statement about trophy hunting debate

The Wildlife Conservation Research Unit’s (WildCRU) mission is to achieve practical solutions to conservation problems through original scientific research. This mission is delivered by the meticulous work of a diverse group of scientists, with varied professional expertise and differing views, united in a community of scientific debate guided by evidence. WildCRU receives financial support from a wide variety of sources, none of which has any influence on our scientific findings, irrespective of their own inevitably varied positions. Our donors range from philanthropists to research councils, and include a significant proportion from  charities focused on animal welfare. In all cases our work is impartial and evidence-based.

The scientific community at WildCRU does not have a monolithic view of the role of trophy hunting in conservation or other means of wildlife utilisation. Indeed, the evidence on these issues is often the topic of professional debate in the seminar room or around the kitchen table. What we do share is dedication to the impartiality of our science, respect for our colleagues’ views, and a collective responsibility to ensure that our research findings contribute the highest quality of evidence to policy-making, and thus benefit to conservation practice.

Professor David Macdonald, Director.
Professor Claudio Sillero, Deputy-Director.
Dr Amy Dickman, Senior Research Fellow.