H.R. 1934 — ProTECT Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings on trophy hunting and wildlife trade. The findings are that (1) trophy hunting of imperiled species undermines conservation by targeting the biggest, strongest males, which can decrease genetic variation, reproduction, alter social structures, increase infanticide, and cause unnatural evolutionary impacts; (2) sanctioned trophy hunting increases poaching; (3) legal wildlife trade provides cover for illegal trade worth up to $20 billion annually run by criminal networks linked to narcotics, weapons, and human trafficking; and (4) the Endangered Species Act prohibits take and import of endangered species but does not automatically extend those protections to threatened species.

This section amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) to (1) prohibit any person subject to U.S. jurisdiction from taking for a trophy within the United States or its territorial sea, or importing into the United States, any trophy of fish or wildlife listed as a threatened species; (2) bar the Secretary from permitting taking for a trophy or importing a trophy of any fish or wildlife listed as an endangered or threatened species, notwithstanding existing permit exceptions; (3) extend the antiques exemption to the new trophy import prohibition; and (4) define "trophy" as a whole dead animal, or a readily recognizable part or derivative thereof, that is raw, processed, or manufactured and was obtained under a hunting license or similar authorization. (Thus, the changes expand ESA protections for threatened species by specifically targeting hunting trophies, including imports, while closing permit loopholes for both endangered and threatened species.)