From Asian sheep to African lions to European boars, exotic and native animals are shot for trophies at thousands of "canned" hunting preserves scattered across the US. A canned hunt takes place on a fenced piece of private property where a hunter can pay a fee to shoot a captive animal. Nearly any animal is unfair game, receiving not only a prison sentence on a fenced-in preserve, but also a firing squad.

While most canned hunts on the East Coast are less than 100 acres in size, some in the South and the West are larger. The Exotic Wildlife Association, an umbrella group for canned hunt operators, testified before Congress that its largest member has a 650 acre game ranch.

Prices for a hunt may range from several hundred to several thousand dollars per kill. The Renegade Ranch in Michigan, for example, charges $350 for a Corsican ram, $450 for a Russian boar, $750 for a blackbuck antelope, $3,000 for a buffalo, and $5,500 for a trophy elk. According to its brochure, "Many exotic animals not listed are available upon request. Some shooting preserves charge up to $20,000 for a lion or a rhinoceros.

Either bred in captivity, purchased from animal dealers, or retired from zoos and circuses, these tame animals do not even run when approached by weapon-wielding hunters. Shooting preserves offer guaranteed trophies and advertise as "No Kill, No Pay" The animals are so tame, in fact, that one hunter stated, "Before being `harvested,' African lions raised as pets would amble over and lick your hand." There may be as much so-called sport in shooting caged animals at the local zoo.

THE ZOO CONNECTION
Many zoos - even the nation's most prestigious - sell their "surplus" animals either directly to canned hunting preserves or to middlemen and dealers who later sell to the hunts. Because baby animals are popular, zoos continue to breed their animals. But space is limited, and for every baby born an adult animal must leave.

Zoos generally claim they do not know what happens to the animals they sell. But some, such as the San Antonio Zoo, sell their animals openly and even include owners of canned hunting facilities on their board of directors. San Antonio Zoological Society board member Betty S. Kelso and her husband Robert own the Auerhahn Ranch in Texas, and have purchased exotic animals directly from the zoo for years.

The official guidelines of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) state, "The AZA strongly opposes the sale, trade, or transfer of animals from zoos and aquariums to organizations or individuals which allow the hunting of animals directly from or bred at zoos or aquariums." But the policy is meaningless since all shooting preserves or dealer middlemen can claim their clients do not hunt animals "directly from or bred at zoos," but rather hunt the offspring of those animals. Moreover, there are more than 15,000 animal exhibitors in the US and only 160 belong to the AZA. The thousands of petting zoos, roadside zoos, and smaller exhibitors have no reason to adhere to the AZA's suggestions.

The following zoos have sold animals either directly to canned hunts
or to dealers who have done business with auctions or hunts:
Buffalo Zoological Gardens (NY),
Busch Gardens (FL),
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (CO),
Great Adventure (NJ),
Houston Zoo (TX),
Kansas City Zoo (MO),
Lake George Zoological Park (NY),
Lincoln Park Zoo (IL),
Los Angeles Zoo (CA),
Lowry Park Zoo (FL),
Memphis Zoo (TN),
National Zoo (DC),
Oklahoma City Zoo (OK),
San Antonio Zoo (TX),
San Diego Zoo (CA),
San Francisco Zoo (CA),
Seneca Park Zoo (NY),
St. Louis Zoo (MO),
Suwannee Valley Zoo (FL)

Here is a further article on the subject from 2005

Wildlife protection groups filed suit today in the Northern District of California to prevent the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service from allowing canned hunting of three endangered antelope species. The plaintiffs include The Humane Society of the United States, Defenders of Wildlife, Born Free USA, the Kimya Institute, and a number of individuals.

The plaintiffs contend that a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service decision announced last month violates the Endangered Species Act by allowing trophy hunters to kill the three species on game ranches in the United States. The plaintiffs also contend that the rule will undermine conservation efforts for wild populations and set a damaging precedent for the commercial exploitation of other endangered species.

Last month, after a fourteen-year delay, the FWS finally listed the scimitar-horned oryx, addax, and dama gazelle as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. However, on the same day, the FWS published a sweeping exemption that would allow hunters to kill captive bred antelope animals on privately-owned ranches located anywhere in the United States and sell their “trophies” to hunters from the United States and abroad.

“The federal government is trying to create a ‘canned hunt’ exemption to the Endangered Species Act so that trophy hunters can bag endangered animals in drive-thru killing operations,” said Michael Markarian, HSUS executive vice president. “That’s not sport and it’s certainly not conservation.”

Canned hunts have proliferated over the past 10 years, with an estimated 1,000 or more current operations in the United States alone. Hunting guides escort their clients to feeding stations and watering holes where their semi-tame prey is an easy target. The guides handle removal of the carcass and arrange for the taxidermied trophy to be delivered to the client.

The Bush Administration first proposed allowing widespread killing of international endangered species for commercial purposes in 2003, but tabled the proposal after it came under massive criticism from the public, the scientific community and members of Congress.

“This rule is the same wine in a different bottle,” said Carroll Muffett, Senior Director for International Conservation at Defenders of Wildlife, “And it’s as invalid for these antelopes as it is for the other 500 species the Administration threatened with their ‘kill them to protect them’ plan. We don’t get clear skies by increasing pollution; and we won’t save endangered species by killing them for profit.”

Decades of overhunting and habitat loss have driven the three antelope species to the verge of extinction. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists the scimitar-horned oryx as extinct in the wild, the addax as critically endangered, and the dama gazelle as endangered. The three species are captive bred and regularly offered to hunters at game ranches in the United States: