Born Free
October 2018
Today’s lawsuit asks a federal district court in Virginia to order the Fish and Wildlife Service to routinely post elephant and lion trophy permit applications, the agency’s permitting decisions, and related findings regarding the sustainability of hunting species threatened with extinction.
Born Free USA, The Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society
International, and Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (FWS) today for violating the law by failing to post online
elephant and lion trophy permitting records as required by the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA).
Under 1996 amendments to the Freedom of Information Act, agencies are
obligated to post their decisions – including orders, policies, and
interpretations – online for public inspection. The same obligation applies
to certain types of records that are frequently requested and that have been
released in the past. FWS’ FOIA log demonstrates that conservationists,
journalists, and others request elephant and lion trophy import records
often enough that this information should be posted online automatically as
soon as the agency receives it.
Despite immense public interest in the government’s decision of whether to
allow the import of hunting trophies from imperiled species, and despite
repeated attempts by conservation organizations to shed light on this
important conservation issue, the Fish and Wildlife Service is covertly
conducting this Endangered Species Act permitting program.
“Although it is unlawful for an American to import an elephant or lion
trophy without first obtaining a permit, the public has been systemically
deprived of contributing relevant scientific information to influence the
federal government’s implementation of these critical elephant and lion
conservation measures,” said Anna Frostic, managing wildlife attorney with
the Humane Society of the United States. “FWS is openly flouting its
statutory mandate to proactively post frequently requested material online.”
Today’s lawsuit asks a federal district court in Virginia to order the Fish
and Wildlife Service to routinely post elephant and lion trophy permit
applications, the agency’s permitting decisions, and related findings
regarding the sustainability of hunting species threatened with extinction.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service needs to come clean and let the public know
how many elephants and lions are killed to decorate rich Americans’ living
rooms,” said Tanya Sanerib, the legal director of the Center for Biological
Diversity’s international program. “With huge threats facing Africa’s
imperiled wildlife, the unlawful secrecy about these bloody imports is
totally unacceptable.”
For most of the past decade, according to tallies from the CITES trade
database, U.S. trophy hunters killed and imported the parts of approximately
500 African lions and 500 African elephants each year. Both species are now
listed as threatened with extinction under the Endangered Species Act.
Since Ryan Zinke became Interior Secretary, FWS has approved elephant and
lion trophy imports from countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, and
South Africa to the delight of trophy hunters. President Trump, meanwhile,
has blasted trophy hunting as a “horror show.”
According to Angela Grimes, Born Free USA Acting CEO, “We have seen an
alarming increase of attacks on the Endangered Species Act and the imperiled
species it protects from both Congress and this Administration. By
conducting this permitting program under the veil of secrecy, the FWS is
further attempting to weaken and degrade the effectiveness of the ESA. To
fully understand the impacts to threatened African lions and elephants, this
information must be accessible to the public. Only then can we effectively
protect these animals and the integrity of the ESA.”
Today’s lawsuit follows a pending court case filed by the same plaintiffs
contesting the merits of the administration’s decision last November to lift
an import ban on Zimbabwe elephant trophy imports and to allow imports of
lion trophies from Zimbabwe to the U.S., and its March 1 decision to shift
to a “case-by-case” process for making trophy import findings.
Plaintiffs are represented in the case by pro bono law firm Paul Hastings
LLP.
Background information
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