Trophies of endangered and threatened species killed by hunters will soon be banned from being shipped to Britain, according to a government proposal that has been called one of the toughest in the world.

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       The proposed ban, which was announced Friday, would cover nearly 7,000 animal species, including the lions, rhinoceroses and elephants that many big-game hunters seek. It would be notable for including some 1,000 animals with “near-threatened” status.

       Over the past half-century or so, the world’s wild animal population has dropped by an average of 68 percent across different monitored species, according to a World Wildlife Fund report from 2020. The decrease is primarily attributed to the loss of natural habitat, although some species, such as the Plains zebra, are threatened by hunting.

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       British Environment Secretary George Eustice said the proposal would help protect global biodiversity and is a central component of London’s commitment to international conservation.

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       “We are appalled at the thought of hunters bringing back trophies and placing more pressure on some of our most iconic and endangered animals,” he said in a statement.

       Big-game hunters say that they contribute to local economies, a point disputed by conservation groups, which regard the activity as cruel and bad for biodiversity. But in 2019, more than 120 researchers signed an open letter published in the journal Science, cautioning that a ban on trophy hunting could lead to further habitat loss because land would be converted for other use.

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       British hunting enthusiasts often travel abroad — top destinations for trophy hunters globally include Tanzania and Zimbabwe — where they can obtain licenses to shoot wild animals, according to animal welfare advocacy groups. Their kills are then made into trophies showcasing animal skins, heads or horns.

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       More than 2,000 such trophies were legally imported into Britain in the past decade, according to an estimate by the Britain-based nonprofit organization Born Free. In comparison, the United States, which has a sizable domestic hunting scene, imports some 126,000 trophies each year, according to the U.S. branch of the Humane Society.

       Many British conservation groups expressed support for the proposed ban, even as they urged London quickly to enact the policy. The country’s Conservative government has been laying the foundation for a trophy hunting import ban since at least 2019, when it called for public input. There is overwhelming support for stricter control, government data shows.

       “Wildlife needs this ban,” Eduardo Gon？alves, the founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, an advocacy group, said in a statement. “Endangered animals are cruelly and needlessly killed every day, and many of them are brought back to Britain as trophies.”

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