The Trophy Hunting Industry:
What They Don't Want You To Know.
This page provides an in-depth overview of the global trophy hunting industry — who the major players are, how they operate, and the political and financial networks that support them. It brings together data on leading hunting companies, targeted species, and the influence of powerful organisations like Safari Club International.
About Safari Club International (SCI)
Safari Club International (SCI) is the world’s biggest trophy hunting organization. Its objective is “to advocate, preserve and protect the rights of all hunters.” In recent years, SCI has spent over $140 million “protecting the freedom to hunt” through aggressive lobbying and litigation.
Its legal team has challenged wildlife protection laws over 50 times, fighting to remove protections for species such as lions, giraffes, and bears.
Political Influence in the US
SCI operates one of America’s largest Political Action Committees (PACs), channelling donations into election campaigns.
Recipients include high-level politicians such as Senate leaders, US Secretaries of State, and Speakers of the House.
Many contributions come from the oil and gas sector, aligning with SCI’s push to open wildlife habitats for both hunting and extraction.
SCI Inside the US Government
Ryan Zinke, former US Interior Secretary, received donations from SCI’s PAC before reversing bans on lion and elephant trophy imports.
David Bernhardt, another former Interior Secretary and SCI lobbyist, expanded hunting rights across 2 million acres of public land.
Anna Seidman, former SCI Director of Legal and Advocacy, later joined the US Fish & Wildlife Service, overseeing trophy import permits.
Encouraging Children to Hunt
SCI and its foundation, SCIF, run education and youth programs to normalise hunting, including partnerships with:
The Salvation Army – outdoor “learning experiences” in hunting and shooting.
The Boy Scouts of America – hunter education and shooting programs.
Schools and teachers – “America’s Hunting Heritage” classroom materials.
They also operate a museum in Wyoming displaying 400+ species’ trophies, including hundreds of disembodied animal heads.
Links with the Fossil Fuel Lobby
Major funding comes from oil and gas executives. Both industries share an interest in weakening wildlife habitat protections for their operations.
The World’s Top Hunting Companies
Safari Club International maintains a Record Book for hunters and companies that shoot the world’s biggest animals.
Companies aim to appear here to showcase their ability to secure record-breaking trophies.
Some specialise in particular species, while others focus on specific regions or even breed animals in captivity for shooting (known as canned hunting, ranching, or high-fence hunting).
🏆 Top 20 Trophy Hunting Companies (Current)
| Rank | Company | Region | Total Records | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swanepoel & Scandrol Safaris | Africa (South Africa, Zambia) | 3,383 | Includes all records by Doug Scandrol and Peter Swanepoel |
| 2 | 777 Ranch | US (Texas), Africa | 3,270 | Includes Jeff Rann’s earlier records |
| 3 | Nassos Roussos / Ethiopian Rift Valley Safaris | Ethiopia | 2,088 | Includes company and personal listings |
| 4 | Coenraad Vermaak Safaris | Africa | 1,580 | |
| 5 | Fernando Saiz-Spain | Spain | 1,506 | |
| 6 | Stone Hunting Safaris | Africa | 1,240 | Includes Jason Stone |
| 7 | Juulchin | Mongolia | 1,116 | |
| 8 | Garry Kelly Safaris | Africa | 1,091 | Operates in multiple African countries |
| 9 | Madubula Safaris | Africa & US (Texas) | 1,084 | |
| 10 | Anuritay Ranch | Argentina | 1,074 | |
| 11 | Robin Hurt Safaris | Africa (global) | 962 | |
| 12 | John X Safaris | South Africa | 903 | |
| 13 | Dries Visser Safaris | Africa | 881 | |
| 14 | Alpine Hunting Adventures | New Zealand | 847 | |
| 15 | Giuseppe Carrizosa | Spain | 817 | |
| 16 | Bushmen Safaris | South Africa | 804 | |
| 17 | South American Adventure Safaris | Argentina | 720 | |
| 18 | Y.O. Ranch | US (Texas) | 689 | |
| 19 | Kingham Safaris | Australia | 689 | |
| 20 | Kevin Downer / KD Sporting | UK, Europe & Africa | 671 |
- Hunting Consortium – 659 Record Book trophies
- Glacier Guides – 617 Record Book trophies
- Shikar Safaris – 612 Record Book trophies
- Blaauwkrantz Safaris – 601 Record Book trophies
- P Cross Bar Ranch – 597 Record Book trophies
- Jules of the Karoo – 565 Record Book trophies
- Canada North Outfitting – 553 Record Book trophies
- Kiwi Safaris/Rolling River Safaris– 551 Record Book trophies
- Mayo Oldiri Safaris – 544 Record Book trophies
- Tam Safaris – 543 Record Book trophies
- Johnny Vivier (Wintershoek Safaris) – 536 Record Book trophies
- Cazatur – 536 Record Book trophies
- Jan Oelofse – 535 Record Book trophies
- John Abraham – 527 Record Book trophies
- Numzaan Safaris – 520 Record Book trophies
- Oelofse Wild – 520 Record Book trophies
- Luke Samaras Safaris – 501 Record Book trophies
- Thormahlen & Cochran – 493 Record Book trophies
- Club Faune – 487 Record Book trophies
- Steve Tors – 484 Record Book trophies
- Nico Pelser – 479 Record Book trophies
- Rosslyn Safaris – 429 Record Book trophies
- Shane Quinn/Alpine Hunting – 420 Record Book trophies
- Somerby Safaris – 410 Record Book trophies
- Chapungu Safaris – 402 Record Book trophies
- Gsell’s Whitetails – 394 Record Book trophies
- Africa Maximum Safaris – 391 Record Book trophies
- Frontier Safaris – 379 Record Book trophies
- Cruiser Safaris – 363 Record Book trophies
- Wanganui Safaris – 363 Record Book trophies
Species Specialists
Each hunting company often specialises in particular species.
Below are the top performers across categories like lions, elephants, leopards, rhinos, and bears.
Wild Lions
No. of Records: 1,026
World Record holder: Stone Hunting Safaris
Most Top 10s: Stone Hunting Safaris
5 most recent entries: Safari Royal, HuntGeo, Swanepoel Safaris, Safaris de Mozambique, Desfountain Safaris
South African/Namibian Lions
(note: many lions here are born and hunted in captivity; they classed in a separate category within the SCI Record Book)
No. of Records: 528
World Record holder: Stone Hunting Safaris
Most Top 10s: Madubula Safaris/John Abraham; Somerby Safaris
5 most recent: Jamy Traut Safaris, Trek Africa Hunting, Frikkie Du Toit Safaris, Tam Safaris, Stone Hunting Safaris (new World Record)
African Elephants
No. of Records: 853
World record Holder: Nassos Roussos
Most Top 10s: Nassos Roussos; Tom Mattanovich
5 Most Recent entries: Collect Africa, Ethakalu Big Game Safaris, Somerby Safaris, Frikkie Du Toit Safaris, Buffalo Range Safaris
Leopard
No. of Records: 2,069
World Record Holder: Rann Safaris Africa
5 Most Recent entries: Mabula Pro Safaris, Adroda Safaris, Safari Royal, Zander Osmers Safaris, Mashambanzou Safaris
White Rhinoceros
No. of Records: 537
World Record holder: HuntGeo
Most Top 10s: Madubula Safaris
5 Most Recent entries: Leekup Safaris, Mashambanzou Safaris, Ultimate Hunting Safaris, Somerby Safaris, S.A. Steyn
Black Rhinoceros
No. of Records: 96
World Record holder: White Hunters Ltd.
Most Top 10s: Angus MacLagan
5 Most Recent entries: Ragozin Safaris, Rhinoland Safaris (2 entries), Thormahlen & Cochran, Tam Safaris
Hippopotamus
No. of Records: 909
World Record Holder: Zambezi Hunters
5 Most Recent entries: S.A. Steyn, HuntGeo, Somerby Safaris, Steele Game Safaris (New World Record for Air gun), Jamy Traut Safaris
Cheetah
No. of Records: 111
World record holder: Orpa Hunting Safaris
5 Most Recent entries: Chapunga-Kambako Safaris, Africa Awaits, Thormahlen & Cochran (two entries), Okangawa Hunting Safaris
Polar Bear
No. of Records: 260
World Record Holder: Canada North Outfitting
Most Top 10s: Canada North Outfitting (7)
5 Most Recent entries: Canada North Outfitting (4), Canadian Arctic Adventures
Black Bear
No. of Records: 2,240
World Record holder: Dare to Hyde
5 most recent entries: Moving Stone Outfitters, South Bay Outfitters, Long Lake Adventures, Ashnola Guide Outfitters, Bear Lake Wilderness Camp
Eurasian Brown Bear
No. of Records: 284
World Record holder: Ostbye Hunting Tours
Most top 10s: Robert Kern/Hunting Consortium
5 most recent entries: Safari International, Jepageast, Tomo Svetic (2 entries), Wild Hunting In Turkey
Cougar (North America)
No. of Records: 1,252
World Record holder: Buck Creek Guide Svc.
5 most recent entries: Garr Ranch, Wade Lemon Hunting, Canyons West, Heart Spear Outfitters, Hasler Outfitters
Wolf (North America)
No. of Records: 453
World Record holder: Fraley Ranch
5 most recent entries: Spatsizi Hunts, Glacier Guides / Alisha “Mutts” Rosenbruch-Decker; Jonahs Alaskan Outfitters; Link’s Wild Safaris / Jay E. Link; Itcha Mountain Outfitters
Wolf (Europe)
No. of Records: 153
World Record holder: Arthunt
Most Top 10s: Arthunt; Polissya Hunting Co.
5 most recent entries: Safari International Macedonia (4 entries), Mariana Fileva / Nikola Zahariev
Species Specialists
Dark Money
- Safari Club International has established a Hunter Legacy 100 Fund. It is an exclusive club launched by 100 SCI members who each put $100,000 into its pot. Money from this fund has been used to finance covert ‘information warfare’ operations.
- An example is its campaign to stop moves by the British Government to ban hunting trophies. SCI pumped at least $1.2 million into the operation, said to be the largest social media disinformation campaign ever mounted from US soil.
- Safari Club International paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to contractors including Jake Hoffman, a Republican politician and consultant from Arizona. Hoffman ran an outfit called Rally Forge, best known for producing fake social media content for controversial right-wing group Turning Point USA.
Fake Front Groups
- Hoffman set up a fake group called ‘Let Africa Live’ which purported to be the voice of ordinary Africans “committed to ending the oppression of the African people by governments, NGO’s and corporations in Western Europe and America”. Its jobs was to push a “positive global narrative around hunting.”
- There were never any Africans involved. The content was entirely fabricated by the hunting industry, as internal documents reveal: “We will take the exact words and facts from the SCI web pages and simply present it through an African’s voice”.
- A strategy document spelt out the plan’s tactics: “SHAPE, INFORM, INFLUENCE, MANIPULATE, MISLEAD, EXPOSE, DIMINISH, PROMOTE, DECEIVE, COERCE, DETER, MOBILIZE, CONVINCE”.
- The industry propaganda pushed out through ‘Let Africa Live’ was seen by millions of people, and targeted the British Government.
Attempts to Influence Foreign Governments
- When Britain’s Environment Ministry, Defra, opened a public consultation into its proposed ban on trophies, the internet was flooded by memes shared by AI-developed bots which claimed the ban was “neo-colonialist”.
- “THE UK IS TRYING TO COLONIZE LOCAL AFRICANS BY CONTROLLING HOW THEY USE THEIR LAND”, according to one, while another claimed “THE UK IS ABOUT TO DESTROY LOCAL AFRICAN ECONOMIES”.
- They repeated conspiracy theory claims: “The UK and the global elite are trying to hurt local African economies. #LetAfricaLive Help Africa in the fight against the UK Global Elite.” Social media users were told how to lobby the UK government. The messages were ‘liked’ and shared via fake social media accounts.
Ordinary Africans Hit Back
- The campaign drew the ire of African conservationists, however. Dr Mordecai Ogada, a leading Kenyan environmentalist, made it clear where most ordinary Africans stand on trophy hunting. He told ‘Let Africa Live’: “YOU are actually the colonial parasites … You’re white supremacist bloodthirsty hunters who want to take over African lands and slaughter our wildlife for your satisfaction.”
- An investigation by the Washington Post pointed out the startling similarities between the methods used and those employed by Russians who sought to influence the 2016 US Presidential election.
Funding Pro-Hunt Lobbyists
- Safari Club International – along with sister group Dallas Safari Club – also sponsor pro-hunt academics and groups. The hunting industry prefers to stay in the shadows and is happy for these people to speak on its behalf.
- One of the groups sits within IUCN, the global conservation body. It calls itself the Sustainable Use and Livelihoods (SULi) committee, so-called because its members argue that sport-hunting of wildlife is a sustainable use of natural resources.
- SULi has received funding from a range of other hunting groups too, including Russia’s Club of Mountain Hunters. The Club is led by close allies of President Putin and oligarchs sanctioned by the West.
- Far from being a conservation group, the chair of SULi’s North American committee is Shane Mahoney, a well-known Canadian hunter who runs a pro-hunting group called Conservation Visions that is directly funded by Dallas Safari Club (DSC). Mahoney is also a Director-at-Large of DSC.
- Other prominent members of SULi include Amy Dickman, an Oxford University academic. Her work has been funded by hunting groups including Dallas Safari Club and Safari Club International.
