Today I received this email from the IFAW and had to share!
FROM THE IFAWS December 21, 2015
With your help, we did it! Thank you!
Over the past three decades, the African lion population has declined by nearly 60 percent, with possibly less than 20,000 lions remaining in the wild.
The U.S. alone is responsible for importing over half of the hundreds of lion trophies brought home by trophy hunters globally each year.
Since March of 2011 IFAW, along with the Humane Society International and Born Free, has led a campaign to list lions, the only big cat not protected, under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The hundreds of thousands of comments to the U.S. Administration from caring supporters like you, were critical to this landmark decision for lions.
And your hard work has paid off. The US government has just announced its decision to list lions under the Endangered Species Act! Thank you!
This will mean real protections for lions on the ground from US hunters, with fewer trophies coming back to the US and real oversight over this reprehensible industry.
This is an incredible step forward for lions. We would like to thank you for your unwavering support, and we encourage you to take a moment to thank Director Dan Ashe and the entire FWS for this outstanding contribution to animal welfare.
We couldn't have done this without you. Thank you! We did it!
Jeffrey Flocken
IFAW's Regional Director, North America
Background:
Five 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. December 21, 2015) 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.
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.
The wildlife agency attributed the change to “newly available scientific information on the genetics and taxonomy of lions.”
But Wayne Pacelle, the president of the Humane Society of the United States, one of five conservation groups that petitioned to have the lion listed, said he thought that the killing of Cecil was “a defining moment.”
To all of us who wept for Cecil, vowed to do something, wrote, signed, and called - This is Cecil's memorial. While it will never bring back that wonderful spirit, His life and death DID mean something, it did bring about Change. It is a reminder for all of us to never, never, never give up.
I am so proud to know all you wonderful animal lovers.
ROAR CECIL ! ! !
"Animals are not my whole world, but they have made my world whole" ~ Roger Caras
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