After Cecil Furor, U.S. Aims to Protect Lions Through Endangered Species Act By Erica Goode via The

After Cecil Furor, U.S. Aims to Protect Lions Through Endangered Species Act By Erica Goode via The New York TimesFive months after a lion named Cecil was shot and killed in Zimbabwe by a Minnesota dentist, the Obama administration has decided to place lions in Africa under the protection of the Endangered Species Act, an action that will set a higher bar for hunters who want to bring lion trophies into the United States.Lions in central and West Africa will be listed as endangered, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service, which announced the change on Monday. Lions in southern and East Africa will be classified as threatened, with a special rule that prods countries to regulate sport hunting of lions in ways that promote conservation.Both designations, the agency said, will result in stricter criteria for the import of live lions and lion parts, like heads, paws or skins.Trophies from countries where lions are endangered will be “generally prohibited,” except in very limited circumstances, the agency said.Trophies could still be imported from nations where lions are listed as threatened — like Tanzania, Zimbabwe and South Africa, all popular countries for American hunters — as long as they met the standards set under the special rule and the animals were killed legally.Daniel M. Ashe, the director of the wildlife service, called the lion “one of the planet’s most beloved species.” The agency said its decision was a response to the drastic decline of lion populations in the wild.The government is acting almost five years after conservation groups petitioned to have the African lion listed as endangered, and the final ruling offers stronger protections than a 2014 proposal by the administration, under which lions in all African countries would have been classified as threatened.Continue Reading via The New York Times -- source link

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