Ricky Gervais calls for ban on trophy hunting as lions could be extinct in 30 years

Long-term animal rights activist Ricky Gervais has spoken out about trophy hunting being ‘humanity at its very worst’.

The news comes five years after Cecil the lion was killed by a US dentist in Zimbabwe, which sparked outrage and a huge movement to end trophy hunting back in 2015. 

Despite this incident sparking outrage across the globe, 6,000 lions have been killed in Africa by hunters since Cecil’s death.

Ricky, who has long supported the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, has spoken to The Sun, saying: “Why are we even having to make the case for banning trophy hunting in the year 2020?”

He continued: “It’s hard to think of anything more sickening or senseless than killing an animal for entertainment, then hacking it up so you can display its body parts and brag about it.

“Trophy hunting is humanity at its very worst. We’ve had five years to do something since the killing of Cecil made everyone aware of what is going on.”

Experts believe that the natural population of lions could be extinct by 2050 if trophy hunting is not made illegal.

Currently, the population of lions in the wild is as low as around 13,000, classing the iconic animal as a vulnerable and endangered species. 

The road to making trophy hunting illegal has been thus far long and unsuccessful. However in 2019, the Queen promised to ban trophy imports in her speech, and it was also included as part of the Conservative party’s Election manifesto. 

So where are we up to with this? Well, in February, Boris Johnson told parliament that he would deliver the ban. 

In the past few weeks, ministers have refused to give a timeline for legislation to MPs. According to the author Eduardo Goncalves, the government’s reluctance to follow through with their promise has resulted in the death of 50 lions from British blood-thirsty hunters.  

Eduardo Goncalves has written and released ‘KILLING GAME: The Extinction Industry‘ in light of the anniversary of Cecil’s death. 

Eduardo said: “We cannot have any more dithering or delay. Nine out of 10 voters want this stopped. Wildlife is on the brink. Let’s get the ban done.

“There is a roaring trade in lion trophies. The furore around the killing of Cecil has done little to deter lion hunters. There is now a real prospect of lions becoming extinct in the wild.”

One notorious British trophy hunter has likening killing animals for sport to being addicted to drugs saying: “You don’t come off it very easily”. 

The pensioner, Paul Roberts, who owns a gun making business operating in West Sussex, features on the list of 500 of the world’s most infamous animal killers in Eduardo’s book.

Paul has been on 33 hunting trips to Africa and once ‘repeatedly shot a leopard to death’ because: “it took two loads of buckshot, 3-inch magnum buckshot, a slug from a 12 bore and two .470s to stop it.”

There are many live petitions to stop trophy hunting and Ban Trophy Hunting campaign has received many other celebrities’ support including Bill Bailer, Lorraine Kelly and Bill Oddie OBE. Find out more about what you can do to help here.