Illinois proposes lion meat ban
Image: Lion meat burger - Matt York, AP
Illinois state representative Luis Arroyo has proposed a Lion Meat Act, which would criminalise the possession, buying and selling of lion meat.
Arroyo believes there are at least two sites in the state which are selling the meat of African lions. According to Crawford Allan, illegal wildlife trade expert for WWF, lions are farmed for meat to sell to restaurants in the US.
Richard Czimer, owner of Czimer's Game and Sea Foods Inc. in Homer Glen, said he sometimes buys USDA-certified lion meat. Mr Czimer has accused Arroyo of "discriminating against…everybody who wants to try something new."
Concerns have also been raised regarding the safety of consuming wild animal meat. Luke Hunter, president of US wild cat conservation group, Panthera, said due to the fact that the predators eat so many different animals, they accumulate parasites and disease.
Hunter drew attention to an incident in 2007, where a biologist in Arizona contracted primary pneumatic plague after dissecting a cougar carcass and died shortly after.
Commenting on the proposed Lion Meat Act, Hunter said this would be more effective if it promoted "conservation on the ground, rather than banning a fairly inconsequential trade of lion meat in the state."
If successful, the proposed Act will make it "unlawful for any person to slaughter a lion or for any person to possess, breed, import or export from this State, buy, or sell lions for the purpose of slaughter."
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
