By Franziska, Northwest Animal Rights Network (NARN)
January 2015
I thought it would be a while before we needed to say this. Or maybe lessons have been learned (doubtful) from the all-but-disappearance of the rhinos. The African lion is in danger of extinction. At least half and possibly up to 80% of the African lions have disappeared in the last 30 years. At that rate everyone reading this is likely to see a lion-less day.
Click here to go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal. In the Search field, enter FWS-R9-ES-2012-0025, which is the docket number for this action. Then click on the Search button. You may submit a comment by clicking on “Comment Now!” and typing your comment into the box.
Sample comment (please edit and personalize your comment as much as possible):
I strongly urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the African lion
as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act. Given the alarming
decrease in the lion population and the serious challenges these animals
face, it is critical that our nation takes an active part in protecting this
iconic species. If we don’t act now, African lions will soon disappear from
the planet.
By listing the African lion as “endangered,” the U.S. will set a standard for other countries to follow, promote conservation, and provide greater protection for these imperiled animals.
Extinction factors like habitat loss, human-lion conflict, poaching (for
the Far East), loss of prey animals, and overutilization for
commercial/recreational purposes (including hunting) are only accelerating,
all threatening the 35,000 African lions left in the wild. The US Fish &
Wildlife Service has proposed listing the African lion as threatened under
the Endangered Species Act — and if even they make such a suggestion, you
know things are pretty dire. Such a listing helps threatened species by
prohibiting certain trade activities, generating conservation benefits
(increased awareness, research, funding for on site efforts), and providing
limited financial aid for programs to conserve the species in foreign
countries.
This Endangered Species Act ‘threatened’ listing still doesn’t stop the
import of so-called “sport”-hunted lions into the US. A special rule has
been proposed (that also applies to other protected species)that would only
allow the import of “sport”-hunted lion trophies from countries with a
scientifically sound management plan for African lions.
Thank you for everything you do for animals!
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