Trump has reversed the Obama administration's ban on barbaric hunting techniques within the Alaskan wilderness. Some of these include using doughnuts soaked in bacon grease to bait grizzly bears, utilizing powerful spotlights to disorient black bear mothers and cubs hibernating inside their dens before shooting them, and standing in motorboats to hunt swimming caribou.
Inhumane hunting methods
Wildlife protectors protested against these hunting methods for years, and the Obama administration banned them during their term. However, they will become legal again on millions of acres of Alaskan territory just in time for warm weather in July, as reported by The New York Times.
On Tuesday, the National Park Service policy had published the new sets of rules in the Federal Register, which seeks to abolish the previous Obama administration's provisions. The new guidelines provide hunters, outfitters, and Alaskan residents 30 days to prepare before returning to national preserves in the state with the latest techniques in place.
These techniques also include allowing the killing of wolves and coyotes, which includes their pups in the seasons when the parents wean their young ones and also utilizing hunting dogs against bears.
The Trump administration has focused on extending hunting rights on federal lands which were spearheaded by the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., who is an experienced hunter.
The Safari Club International, which sports big-game hunting, in February, auctioned a week-long "dream hunt" across Alaska which includes Trump Jr. in its annual convention.
According to The Guardian, the Alaska state government, along with Alaskan congressman Don Young, had previously opposed the Obama administration's provisions. Young was known to have previously been paid to kill wolves residing inside their dens and claims that it "destroys a cooperative relationship between Alaska and the federal government."
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Animal rights and wildlife protection groups condemned the unbanning of the techniques, however, stating that it allows inhuman trophy hunting of different species of bears.
A staff attorney with the Humane Society of the United States, Laura Smythe, said that the new rules would allow the cruel and barbaric killing methods to predominate the regions of Alaskan national preserves, reported Star Tribune.
Right to decide
The Republican senator of Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, that it was their right to decide on hunting provisions and they take that matter seriously. "I thank the administration for recognizing this and working to align federal regulations properly," she added.
Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, however, noted that the decision was "outrageous" and that the barbaric hunting techniques were out of place in natural forests. In a video posted on Twitter, he added that if wildlife animals were to be removed, national parks would lose their beauty and become simple locations, as reported by Independent.
Officials of Alaska have stated that the continuous and increased killing of predators such as bears is fundamental in giving more opportunities to hunt moose and other creatures that sport hunters favour.
Trump had previously condemned trophy hunting as a whole, saying it was a "horror show." In the years after his place in office has since reversed the Obama administration's attempts to remove inhumane techniques from the sport.
