African lions to join the endangered species list: Five months after Cecil was slain, the animals are to be given special protection
- Lions in central and west Africa will be listed as endangered
- While lions found across south and east Africa will be listed as threatened
- It is hoped the move will make it harder for hunters to bring 'trophies' to US
- Fish and Wildlife Service said its move is not the result of Cecil outcry
African
lions are to be placed under the protection of the Endangered Species
Act, just five months after a famous lion named Cecil was killed in
Zimbabwe by an American dentist.
It is hoped the move will better regulate hunting and make it trickier for hunters to bring lion trophies into the US.
Lions
in central and west Africa will be listed as endangered, according to
the Fish and Wildlife Service, while a second subspecies found across
southern and eastern Africa will be listed as threatened.
African
lions are to be placed under the protection of the Endangered Species
Act, five months after a famous lion named Cecil (pictured) was killed
in Zimbabwe by an American dentist. Lions in central and west Africa
will be listed as endangered while a second subspecies in southern and
eastern Africa will be listed as threatened
Both changes will make it harder for hunters to import lion parts.
In
particular, importing skins and trophies from countries where the
animals are endangered will be 'generally prohibited,' the agency told The New York Times.
The
order states the Fish and Wildlife Service will deny a permit to import
a sport-hunted lion to anyone who has been convicted or pleaded guilty
to violating federal or state wildlife laws.
If this rule had been implemented sooner, it could have potentially prevented the death of Cecil.
In
2008, Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist who shot the lion with a bow
and arrow earlier this year, pleaded guilty to making false statements
to the Fish and Wildlife Service about a black bear fatally shot in
western Wisconsin outside an authorised hunting zone.
Under the changes, this would have prevented him getting a permit to travel to Africa and hunt Cecil.
The
order states the Fish and Wildlife Service will deny a permit to import
a sport-hunted lion to anyone who has been convicted or pleaded guilty
to violating federal or state wildlife laws. The move has been made in
response to a large decline in the numbers of lions in Africa, rather
than in direct response to Cecil's demise
The
move has been made in response to a large decline in the numbers of
lions in Africa over the past two decades, rather than in direct
response to Cecil's demise.
But some claim the creature's very public death was the driving force for many such changes.
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