Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact the proposed cull of hippos to be conducted by trophy hunters on the Luangwa River in Zambia will have on the ban on the trade in ivory contained in the Ivory Bill.

No assessment has been made of the impact of the proposed cull of hippos to be conducted by trophy hunters on the Luangwa River in Zambia on the ban on the trade in ivory contained in the Ivory Bill. The Government has announced it will consult as soon as possible on extending the ivory ban to hippos. This consultation will allow an assessment to be made of all the appropriate evidence.