Protesters to Feds: Add Lions to Endangered Species List

PHOTO: iStock.com/BraunS courtesy of PETA

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Protestors from PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, will be protesting at the Interior Department Wednesday at noon to bring attention to the killing of Cecil the lion by an American dentist.

Demonstrators bearing signs reading: “My Head Belongs on My Shoulders, Not on Your Wall,” will gather at noon Wednesday in front of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and call on the agency to take steps to end trophy hunting, by listing lions as a threatened species and by banning the importation of their heads, tails and skins into the United States, according to a news release from PETA.

David J. Hayes, a visiting distinguished lecturer at Stanford Law School, said the United States can discourage such hunting by listing lions as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Hayes serves on the White House Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking, and he led a 2014 student practicum at Stanford that developed a new approach to saving endangered wildlife. The practicum is part of the law school’s Law and Policy Lab.

Hayes said in an interview with the Stanford Report that currently, African lions are not categorized as “endangered” and, as a result, the U.S. does not limit lion hunting in African countries, nor does it limit the importation of lion trophies into the U.S. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has proposed to list lions as endangered under the Endangered Species Act and, if finalized, restrictions on lion hunting would kick in.

This move would help prevent the slaughter of lions like Cecil, PETA says. The lion was recently shot with an arrow and left to suffer for 40 hours before being tracked, shot, skinned and decapitated by Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer and his hunting party.

“All wild animals are loved by their mates and offspring, but to hunters like Palmer, they’re just targets to slaughter and hang on the wall,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “Trophy hunters will continue to devastate lion families, harm the natural balance that these animals provide and hurt the economies of African localities if lions aren’t put on the endangered species list—and that’s why PETA is calling on federal authorities to take action now.”

Lion populations are rapidly declining in Africa. PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—encourages caring people to join the call for federal authorities to issue an order allowing new protections for these animals.

The Obama administration is trying to get in touch with Palmer, who also has a home in Florida.

“The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is investigating the circumstances surrounding the killing of ‘Cecil the lion.’ That investigation will take us wherever the facts lead,” said Edward Grace, the agency’s deputy chief of law enforcement, in a statement.

“At this point in time, however, multiple efforts to contact Dr. Walter Palmer have been unsuccessful. We ask that Dr. Palmer or his representative contact us immediately,” he added.

Palmer, who has gone into hiding, issued an initial statement: “I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt. I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt.”