The British royal family is making some touchy decisions. Should they or shouldn’t they remove possibly illegal, according to EU regulations, hunting trophies that include elephant tusks and stuffed rhinos from Queen Elizabeth II’s Sandringham residence?
Buckingham Palace said in a statement it will remove any trophies from its collection of 62 items that don’t adhere to European Union rules on endangered species, reports AFP. At the moment, the collection is open to the public in the museum of the Sandringham country estate in eastern England, where the Royal family typically spends Christmas.
The collection of exotic creatures, which were hunted by royal marksmen between 1970 and 1941, includes stuffed lions, tigers, leopards, elephant tusks, and rare rhinos.
Recently, Prince William, the sovereign’s grandson, launched a campaign against illegal hunting and trading of endangered species.
“At Sandringham the understanding has always been that items on display in the museum are exempt from the need for an Article 10 certificate (to disclose specimens are for commercial use). However in any case where there is a genuine doubt the relevant specimen will be removed from display before the museum re-opens in April 2015,” a spokesperson for the museum said in a statement.
Although no items in the museum were killed by current royal family members, Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Phillip, the president of the World Wildlife Fun, has allegedly killed one tiger, two crocodiles, many wild boar and rabbits, and around 30,000 pheasants during his lifetime.