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Success! African Lions Get Endangered Species Protection
http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/causes/3163/3162658.large.jpg
Following months of public outrage over the killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe, conservationists are celebrating a huge victory for Africa’s iconic big cats with a long overdue announcement that they will get endangered species protection.
Cecil’s death garnered international attention, and more than one million Care2 members signed a petition demanding justice. Some big changes followed — from major airlines saying no to transporting trophies to two countries banning trophies from lions — but the effort to get lions more protection was started long before Cecil died.
Four years ago, a coalition of organizations filed a formal petition to list African lions as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) over concerns about their continued decline. They received a lot of encouragement from the public, with thousands of people voicing their support – more than 70,000 people signed the Care2 petition asking the agency to move forward with protection.
Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) finally proposed protection for lions as a threatened species, after concluding that without intervention they face a serious risk of extinction in the wild. According to the FWS, lion populations have declined by 43 percent over just the past 20 years due to a number of factors including habitat loss, a loss of prey and retaliatory killings, while others continue to point out that hundreds are killed by sport hunters every year.
This week brought some good news when the agency formally announced they would be protected under the ESA, with endangered status for some. The new listing will protect lions in India and western and central Africa as endangered, and lions in eastern and southern Africa as threatened as of January 22, 2016.
“The lion is one of the planet’s most beloved species and an irreplaceable part of our shared global heritage,” said FWS Director Dan Ashe. “If we want to ensure that healthy lion populations continue to roam the African savannas and forests of India, it’s up to all of us – not just the people of Africa and India – to take action.”
Even though the FWS previously said trophy hunting isn’t a major threat, it did acknowledge that “U.S. hunters make up a disproportionately large share of foreign hunters who book trophy hunts in Africa,” while conservationists have continued to argue that it certainly isn’t helping the situation.
According to Born Free USA, at least 2,232 African lions were killed and imported into the U.S. over the past four years while we waited for the FWS to take action, including Cecil.
While the listing won’t entirely stop trophy hunting, the change in status raises the bar significantly for sport hunters and will now require them to get a permit from the FWS, which will face tough scrutiny and will hopefully also have a chilling effect on those seeking to import trophies from canned lion hunts. A Director’s Order was also included to add even more strength to the permitting requirements that will bar anyone with a violation of state and federal wildlife laws under their belt from importing a lion trophy.
“It has been a very long four years waiting for this decision, with each year seeing more lions slaughtered by hunters for trophies. This is a victory and we applaud USFWS for agreeing that these animals deserve significant international protection under the ESA: popularly considered one of the world’s most important conservation laws. There is now hope for future generations to be able to witness the beauty of the lion in the wild,” said Adam M. Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA and Born Free Foundation.
http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/causes/3163/3162658.large.jpg
Following months of public outrage over the killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe, conservationists are celebrating a huge victory for Africa’s iconic big cats with a long overdue announcement that they will get endangered species protection.
Cecil’s death garnered international attention, and more than one million Care2 members signed a petition demanding justice. Some big changes followed — from major airlines saying no to transporting trophies to two countries banning trophies from lions — but the effort to get lions more protection was started long before Cecil died.
Four years ago, a coalition of organizations filed a formal petition to list African lions as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) over concerns about their continued decline. They received a lot of encouragement from the public, with thousands of people voicing their support – more than 70,000 people signed the Care2 petition asking the agency to move forward with protection.
Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) finally proposed protection for lions as a threatened species, after concluding that without intervention they face a serious risk of extinction in the wild. According to the FWS, lion populations have declined by 43 percent over just the past 20 years due to a number of factors including habitat loss, a loss of prey and retaliatory killings, while others continue to point out that hundreds are killed by sport hunters every year.
This week brought some good news when the agency formally announced they would be protected under the ESA, with endangered status for some. The new listing will protect lions in India and western and central Africa as endangered, and lions in eastern and southern Africa as threatened as of January 22, 2016.
“The lion is one of the planet’s most beloved species and an irreplaceable part of our shared global heritage,” said FWS Director Dan Ashe. “If we want to ensure that healthy lion populations continue to roam the African savannas and forests of India, it’s up to all of us – not just the people of Africa and India – to take action.”
Even though the FWS previously said trophy hunting isn’t a major threat, it did acknowledge that “U.S. hunters make up a disproportionately large share of foreign hunters who book trophy hunts in Africa,” while conservationists have continued to argue that it certainly isn’t helping the situation.
According to Born Free USA, at least 2,232 African lions were killed and imported into the U.S. over the past four years while we waited for the FWS to take action, including Cecil.
While the listing won’t entirely stop trophy hunting, the change in status raises the bar significantly for sport hunters and will now require them to get a permit from the FWS, which will face tough scrutiny and will hopefully also have a chilling effect on those seeking to import trophies from canned lion hunts. A Director’s Order was also included to add even more strength to the permitting requirements that will bar anyone with a violation of state and federal wildlife laws under their belt from importing a lion trophy.
“It has been a very long four years waiting for this decision, with each year seeing more lions slaughtered by hunters for trophies. This is a victory and we applaud USFWS for agreeing that these animals deserve significant international protection under the ESA: popularly considered one of the world’s most important conservation laws. There is now hope for future generations to be able to witness the beauty of the lion in the wild,” said Adam M. Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA and Born Free Foundation.
