A new report by the Campaign to Ban Trophy hunting has exposed British hunters who have killed our closest cousins on trips in Africa
British trophy hunters have shot over 500 monkeys[1] and baboons on safari trips, say campaigners.
The sick thrill-seekers include a grandad who blasted a rare albino baboon, proudly posed for a photo next to its bloody corpse and then had it stuffed and mounted to display at home.
Contacted online by undercover investigators posing as fellow blood sport fans, Chris Hemingway sent them photos of his trophy room and boasted he had more trips booked.
Mr Hemingway, who used a South African safari firm that has a sales agent in the UK, crowed: “Last time I was out I shot a white baboon. I’ve got that fully mounted.”
Gloating on Facebook[2] in December about his trophy, he wrote: “Better than Elf on shelf! How about a baboon at ye bed head! And a white one at that.”
Mr Hemingway, who lives near Kelso in the Scottish Borders with his wife Jayne, admitted he was addicted to safari hunting.
He wrote: “Neil (Jones)…always tried to get me to go. He said, ‘If you go, you’ll want to go again’ And he was right! I’m hooked! I am.”
Mr Hemingway also claimed his wife had shot a donkey in order to feed it to lions: “She’s got pretty hooked now! I think she’ll be wanting one or two of her own trophies.”
His boasts were revealed in a report from the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting – whose fight to end the cruel practice is backed by the Sunday Mirror[3].
The report, called Monkey Business, also reveals how British hunting holiday firms are selling monkey and baboon-shooting experiences.
Prostalk Safaris, based near Glastonbury, Somerset, touts vervet monkey shooting in South Africa’s Eastern Cape and baboon hunts.
Take Aim Safaris, owned by Carl Knight from Surrey, also offers vervet monkey and baboon stalking at its Gonharezhou and Matetsi concessions in Zimbabwe.
Book Your Hunt, which operates like Amazon for hunt trips, has 300-plus monkey-shoots for sale.
The website boasts that they “can be extremely challenging as these animals disperse like greased lightning at any sign of danger” and “they make magnificent full mount trophies”.
Hunters who want a monkey or baboon trophy pay trophy fees of between £50 and £100 plus hundreds of pounds for taxidermy and shipping.
Firms charge less for the safaris than the five-figure cost of stalking big beasts like leopards or elephants. And some estates let tourists shoot monkeys for free as they are considered pests.
Legendary conservationist Jane Goodall, 91, one of the world[4]’s leading experts on primates, told us: “I am shocked to hear about those who go on safaris in Africa to shoot primates including monkeys and baboons.
“I instigated a study of the Gombe baboons in 1966. We followed the lives of hundreds of individuals and got to know their personalities. They form close bonds between family members, and they grieve the loss of any individual.
“I am appalled that British hunters say that, after a few beers, they have ‘fun’ shooting monkeys. I am equally appalled that another introduced his nine-year-old son to the ‘sport.’
“It’s time the international community abolished all trophy hunting. It’s simply cruel and archaic.”
Leading primatologist Ian Redmond added: “Some of the world’s top trophy hunters boast they have even shot gorillas and chimpanzees.
“We share so much of our DNA and behaviour with other primates, which makes shooting them for sport even more horrific and incomprehensible.
“Trophy hunting is an aberration, and the sooner it is banned the better.”
Eduardo Gonçalves, of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, added: “Monkeys are harmless, intelligent and vulnerable members of the animal kingdom. Shooting them to get a thrill is sickening.
“Some British trophy hunters told our undercover investigators they are literally obsessed with shooting them. It’s like a fetish for them. Trophy hunters around the world took home the bodies of 2,500 monkeys last year. This is just a fraction of the numbers actually killed.
Hunting companies encourage customers to shoot monkeys because they consider them ‘vermin’. The only vermin are people who kill our primate cousins for kicks.”
Sonul Badiani-Hamment, FOUR PAWS UK Country Director said: “There has been consistent cross-party support for a ban on the import of hunting trophies, including from the Labour Party[5] who made this an election promise. Yet more than a year into Government, and a decade on from the killing of Cecil the lion, which shocked the world – we are still waiting for action. “Earlier this year, another magnificent lion was killed in almost identical circumstances to Cecil, and even that failed to trigger progress on this issue. “Every delay costs lives. No further animals should be condemned to suffer and die at the hands of trophy hunters. “We are a nation of animal lovers, and we urge the Government to honour this and their promise to deliver the strongest animal welfare policies by ensuring that suitable legislation is introduced immediately. Enough is enough, it’s time to #GetTheBanDone.”
When approached for a comment, Chris Hemingway said: “I’m not interested.”
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The Mirror has been lobbying the Government alongside the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting to bring an import ban on sick animal souvenirs.
The Labour government, like the previous Tory one, vowed in its manifesto to ban the importation of animal trophies. But it continues to drag its heels.
As a result, animals can be slaughtered and turned into rugs, table clothes and disgusting wall mounts in UK homes. Earlier this year, I visited The Stalking Show in Staffordshire, where zebra skins adorned stalls flogging vile trophy hunting holidays to southern Africa.
Blood-thirsty trippers could pick from trips to kill lions, leopards and zebras, among other big game beasts.
Trophies, such as skins and stuffed body parts like animal heads, from 39 animals, including lions, elephants, a brown bear, a leopard, a hippo and a cheetah, were shipped to the UK in 2023.
The number of lions imported leapt from two in 2022 to 28 in 2023, making the species the most targeted choice for UK hunters who crave a gruesome souvenir and bragging rights.
Imports in 2023 also include trophies from five African elephants.
A Defra spokesperson said: “The Government’s manifesto commits to banning the import of hunting trophies. We are considering the most effective way to do so.”