Africa's lions could be granted protections by USFWS

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 (UPI) —

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a proposal that would see Africa’s lion included on the endangered species list. Should the proposal go through, the beloved cat would be designated as "threatened."

The federal protections afforded by a spot on the list would make it illegal to hunt and kill captive lions in the U.S. without permitting. It would also prohibit Americans from selling or transporting lions or lion parts across state and international borders. The listing would allow lion hunters to import their trophy kills to the U.S., so long as their take was permitted by a county that sustainably manages their big cat populations.

Though manmade threats are the chief driver of the lion’s vulnerable status, legal and well-regulated hunting is not one of them. More pressing are the risks posed by habitat loss, an uptick in human-lion conflicts, and the diminishment of food resources at the hands of the bushmeat trade.

"The African lion — a symbol of majesty, courage and strength since earliest times — faces serious and continuing threats to its survival," FWS Director Dan Ashe said in a statement on Monday. "Many wild populations continue to decrease in size, and the subspecies is estimated to occupy less than 22 percent of its historical range."

The proposal to list the species as "threatened" will remain in a holding pattern as it waits for a 90-day comment period to come and go. Proponents and critics will be able to voice their opinion on the cat’s impending listing.

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is committed to providing the necessary protections for imperiled species, both at home and abroad, and this proposal, if finalized, will help us do that," Ashe added.

There are an estimated 34,000 lions in Africa today, roughly half the population present 30 years ago. And the vast majority of those lions are concentrated within ten limited regions of the continent.

Proponents of the new rules say the listing would shed light on hunting practices in Africa, and help differentiate between hunting-conservation programs that actually help lion populations and those that do more harm than good.

Ashe thinks the listing would offer wildlife managers in Africa "motivation and incentive to cooperate," while "galvanizing opinion that lions are in trouble."

"Lions tell us a story," he told National Geographic. "This is one of the world’s most iconic, majestic creatures, so this tells us something about what’s happening on [our] planet."