The Environment Secretary Michael Gove has said indigenous communities should be “respected and not patronised” admitting the UK currently has no plans to ban trophy hunting imports.

Mr Gove says it is a “delicate political balancing act”.

Speaking to ex-cricketer Kevin Pietersen on BBC Radio 5 Live, Mr Gove said that he had been advised by charities to "be cautious" in following other countries and outlawing the controversial practice of importing animal parts resulting from the hunts of rare, often endangered, animals.

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has left his batting career behind to pursue a new passion for conservation and has vowed to try to get the British government to change its stance on allowing trophy hunters to import goods.

Mr Pietersen was talking to the Minister for his new BBC Radio 5 Live podcast Beast of Man, in which he looks at the hunting of endangered species, especially the rhino, in his native South Africa.

Born in South Africa, the former England cricketer recently filmed a documentary about trophy hunting after Cecil the lion was killed in Zimbabwe in 2015.

In the interview, he asks Mr Gove why the UK has not followed other countries including Australia, France and the Netherlands and enforced a ban on trophies.