The Latest: Trump delays policy on importing elephant parts

WASHINGTON – The Latest on a plan to allow importation of elephant parts (all times local):

7:55 p.m.

President Donald Trump says he’s delaying a new policy allowing the body parts of African elephants shot for sport to be imported until he can review “all conservation facts.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday that it will allow the importation of body parts from African elephants shot for sport. The agency said encouraging wealthy big-game hunters to kill the threatened species would help raise money for conservation programs.

Animal rights advocates and environmental groups criticized the decision. On Friday, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee urged the administration to reverse the policy, calling it the “wrong move at the wrong time.”

Trump tweeted that the policy had been “under study for years.” He says he will review the issue with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

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1:40 p.m.

The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee is calling on the Trump administration to reverse its new policy allowing importation of body parts from African elephants shot for sport, labeling it the “wrong move at the wrong time.”

California Rep. Ed Royce is questioning the action because of concerns not only about African wildlife but U.S. national security, citing the political upheaval in Zimbabwe,.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a written notice issued Thursday that permitting elephants from Zimbabwe and Zambia to be brought back as trophies will raise money for conservation programs.

Royce says that when carefully regulated, conservation hunts could help the wildlife population, but “this is the wrong move at the wrong time.”