Powerful lion coalition calls on new Prime Minister
Africa’s lion population has seen a steep decline of 43 per cent across the continent in two decades.
A group of wildlife charities have joined forces to address the rapidly declining wild lion population. Lion Aid, Four Paws, The Born Free Foundation, IFAW and Save Me will unite to call on Theresa May and environment secretary, Andrea Leadsom MP, to support maximum protection levels for lions at the upcoming Conference of the Parties in International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Johannesburg in September.
Proposals tabled by nine western and central African countries suggest transferring all African lions from Appendix II of CITES to Appendix I, which would effectively ban commercial cross-border trade of lions and their body parts.
However, many EU institutions are reluctant to back the suggestion, instead calling for a compromise that would see a transfer of selected populations. The change would radically reduce unsustainable trophy hunting and international use of body parts in Asian medicines and tonics.
Will Travers OBE, president and CEO of Born Free foundation, said: “Whilst the UK Government has championed the need to deal with wildlife trafficking and species decline, Africa’s lions remain in crisis.”
He continued: “A split listing will only compromise enforcement efforts and provide a means of laundering products derived from beleaguered lion populations into trade.”
Africa’s lion population has seen a steep decline of 43 per cent across the continent in two decades. The coalition has written to EU member state environment ministers, who will be influential at the upcoming CITES meeting, urging them to propose elevated protection levels.
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