HUNTERS who travel to Africa to shoot lions will no longer be able to bring their trophies home with them, following an import ban announced this evening.

Federal Environment Minister and Member for Flinders Greg Hunt made the announcement at 6pm.

The ban followed a campaign to end the importation of lion trophies by La Trobe Federal Liberal MP Jason Wood.

“Canned hunting is real. It exists. It shouldn’t exist,” Mr Hunt said.

“It is done in inhumane conditions. It is involving things such as raising and then drugging and in many cases, baiting.

“I have signed an order to prevent the importation into Australia of African lion parts and remains. This order will take effect immediately.”

The announcement was made during the Global March for Lions at Federation Square, which was held by animal activists all over the world.

Mr Wood called the ban historic and said he hoped the rest of the world follow.

He thanked Ferny Creek’s Donalea Patman for bringing the issue to his attention.

“The practice of canned hunting is completely unacceptable,” he said.

“Australia has taken the first step, now let’s hope the rest of the world follows suit and says no to canned hunting.”

The announcement comes weeks after cricketer Glenn McGrath was criticised for photographs that showed him in Africa posing next to animals shot in a game park, which included elephants, African buffalo and hyenas.

media_camera Australian cricket legend Glenn McGrath came under fire for old photographs of him posing in front of animal trophies in Zimbabwe.

Ms Patman said she had been pushing for the ban since before the 2013 Federal Election.

She said it was a myth that canned hunting helped African conservation efforts or the local economy.

“We have a moral right to say this is not okay,” Ms Patman said.

“The hunting industry wants to perpetrate the myth that they contribute money but it stays with corporations.

“This industry uses volunteers, a lot from Australia, to say they are helping conservation efforts but what they are doing is running breeding farms and it doesn’t assist the local economy at all.

“They only offer one quarter of a per cent (of hunting profits) to the GDP.”

Upper House member and Shooters and Fishers Party chairman Robert Borsak addressed the ban in a statement in which he called lion trophies “sustainable and legally obtained.”

Mr Borsak said discouraging canned hunting would “encourage unsustainable illegal poaching and deprive economically depressed rural communities in Africa of much needed income.”