Trump will keep the ban on elephant trophies — for now

President Trump announced Friday that he has delayed his decision on whether to maintain or eliminate an Obama-era prohibition on the import of trophies, like the tusks or skull, from elephants hunted for sport in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under the purview of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, had indicated Thursday the ban would be lifted, a change the agency said could increase the number of elephants by encouraging big game population management. Critics believe it would put elephants at greater risk of extinction.

The Trump family has taken an interest in big game hunting in the past. The president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., hunted and killed an elephant on a trip to Zimbabwe with his brother Eric Trump in 2012.

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