A hobby hunter from Florida has been given permission to can import a lion trophy from Tanzania – the first time the US has allowed such an import since it ruled the species should receive special protection three years ago.

Carl Atkinson shot the animal dead during an £80,000, 21-day safari in 2016.

But he had not been allowed to take the trophy – the head and mane – home because lions in Tanzania are classed as a threatened big cat under the US’s Endangered Species Act. An application was turned down shortly after his trip.

Now, however, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which administers such licences, has waved through the import – signalling an shift in policy under Donald Trump.

The service says it will review all future…