On November 2017, it was announced that President Trump, on Zinke's advice, wanted to lift the import ban on elephant and other big-game trophies from Zambia and Zimbabwe to the United States. Zinke, himself a passionate trophy hunter, justified himself against critics by saying that he had his best childhood memories of hunting with his father and that he was anxious to promote hunting for American families.[88] Trump and Zinke received considerable criticism for the decision, as the stock of African elephants is already endangered because of industrial poaching and about 30,000 of these animals are killed by poachers every year. Critics feared that lifting the import ban would trigger a wave of U.S. trophy hunters, and that the decision would be a major blow to the survival of the elephant species.