Comedian and star of Amazon’s Last One Laughing Diane Morgan says trophy hunting is just ‘rich people playing the world’s worst game of Pokemon’ as she backs the Mirror’s campaign
Motherland and Last One Laughing star Diane Morgan compared slaughtering majestic animals for trophies in Africa as “rich people playing the world’s worst game of Pokemon.”
The 50-year-old actress and comedian is the latest celebrity to throw her support behind the Daily Mirror’s campaign to end imports and urged the Government to “stop dithering.”
“Let’s stop pretending this is complicated and let’s finally pass a proper, comprehensive ban on trophy hunting in the UK.” she added.
Speaking at an event in the House of Commons she slammed those who kill elephants, lions, leopards, zebras and other animals to hang on the wall as “the World’s Most Disturbing fridge magnets.”
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She added: “Trophy hunting is a strange hobby. If someone said their hobby was collecting rare animals, you’d imagine they ran a wildlife sanctuary, not a hallway.
“Let’s be honest about what trophy hunting actually is. It’s not survival, it’s not science, it’s not conservation, it’s rich people playing the world’s worst game of Pokemon.”
Recent analysis highlights that despite strong cross-party support for a ban, UK hunters are still importing trophies from endangered wildlife. According to the latest data reported to the CITES Trade Database around 50 trophies from CITES-listed animals were imported into the UK in 2024 – including elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos and bears.
Public support for action remains overwhelming with more than 80% of the British public backing a ban on trophy hunting imports.
Diane, best known for her role as Philamenia Cunk and appearing in After Life alongside other animal activists Ricky Gervais and Peter Egan, added: “I’m not a wildlife expert or a zoologist. I struggle to keep a houseplant alive but even I understand the basic concept that if you love animals, you probably shouldn’t be flying halfway around the world to shoot them and turn their head into a coat rack.
“The justification for this is usually something like, oh, well, you know, it helps conservation. But that’s not conservation. That’s someone trying to recreate the Lion King in their living room. It’s like saying, oh, arson helps the fire brigade to stay busy.”
The House of Commons previously voted unanimously in favour of a trophy import ban in 2023, but the legislation stalled before becoming law.
Eduardo Goncalves, founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting added: “With overwhelming public support and cross-party backing in Parliament, the time has come to close this loophole once and for all and ensure endangered animals are not killed abroad simply so their heads, skins or tusks can be brought back to Britain as trophies.”
A Defra spokesperson added: “The government has committed to introduce a ban on the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern. We are carefully considering all available options.
“Our priority remains progressing and delivering legislation to introduce a ban as soon as Parliamentary time allows.”
Our campaign to curb the barbaric fur trade has won overwhelming support from the public.After repeated calls from the Daily Mirror to release the results of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) consultation, a massive 96% of the almost 30,000 respondents strongly agreed that killing animals for their fur is wrong.
Reasons given by respondents included fur production is inherently cruel, and animals have the right to be treated with respect, faux fur alternatives exist and could replace the value created by the fur industry”, while others said allowing imports of farmed fur while banning domestic fur farming outsources cruelty.Some said that Great Britain should be world-leading on welfare and set precedents for others and fur production creates zoonotic disease risks, including Coronavirus.
Individuals and non-fur trade organisations made up 28,657 respondents, while there were just 49 responses from fur-trade organisations.The Animal Welfare Committee, which advises the UK government, also has published a damning report condemning the animal suffering involved in the fur trade.
Called ‘the responsible sourcing of fur’ it calls out the suffering inflicted on animals who are confined in cages on fur farms or caught in brutal traps in the wild, and indicates support for legislative action, stating ‘consumer and market forces currently do not and cannot provide sufficient pressure to adequately safeguard animal welfare.’
Despite banning the farming of animals for their fur more than two decades ago, the UK imports millions of pounds worth of animal fur from overseas every year, creating a double standard, says Humane World for Animals UK. The organisation leads the #FurFreeBritain campaign alongside the Daily Mirror and is calling on the UK Government to act on the report’s findings. It is also demanding it delivers on its recent Animal Welfare Strategy commitment to ‘uphold high animal welfare standards in trade’ by banning Britain’s bloody fur trade for good.
Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs for Humane World for Animals UK said: “It’s clear from the Committee’s findings that trading in fur from caged, tormented, diseased and injured animals is completely at odds with the UK Government’s recent Animal Welfare Strategy commitment to ‘uphold high animal welfare standards as part of our approach to trade’. The Committee states that fur should not be sourced from animals who have not had ‘a life worth living’ or a humane death and then explains all the ways in which the global fur trade fails to meet these criteria.”
