https://biologicaldiversity.or...-hunters-2021-11-09/



For Immediate Release, November 9, 2021

Contact:

Rodi Rosensweig, Humane Society of the United States/Humane Society International, (202) 809-8711, RRosensweig@humanesociety.org
Tanya Sanerib, Center for Biological Diversity, (206) 379-7363, tsanerib@biologicaldiversity.org

Lawsuit Aims to Protect African Leopards From U.S. Trophy Hunters

Increased Endangered Species Act Protections Sought to Address U.S. Threat As World’s Largest Importer of Leopard Trophies

WASHINGTON— Animal protection and conservation groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today for failing to propose stricter protections for African leopards under the U.S. Endangered Species Act to address the harms of trophy hunting.

The United States is the world’s biggest importer of African leopard hunting trophies and consumed more than half the global trade between 2014 and 2018. Yet despite trophy hunting’s threat to African leopards, their population declines, and these big cats’ “threatened” status under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. currently exempts trophy imports from the Act’s restrictions. Humane Society International, the Humane Society of the United States, and Center for Biological Diversity sued to close that gap in protections.

“The pathway to leopard extinction is littered with leopard trophies,” said Teresa Telecky, vice president of wildlife for Humane Society International, speaking on behalf of Humane Society International and the Humane Society of the United States. “The African leopard is being driven to extinction by U.S. trophy hunters who are enabled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which hands out import leopard trophy import permits like candy. The agency has dragged its feet for far too long and needs to step up and put stronger Endangered Species Act protections in place to curb this outrageous hobby.”

The groups petitioned in July 2016 to uplist African leopards from “threatened” to “endangered” status under the Act. Greater protection under the law would ensure closer scrutiny of African leopard trophy imports and apply a more protective standard before trophies can enter the United States.

“The tide of extinction is rolling over leopards, but U.S. wildlife officials aren’t throwing these graceful animals a life preserver,” said Tanya Sanerib, international legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Endangered Species Act’s full protections could ensure that the gruesome trophy trade doesn’t drive leopard decline. To defeat the extinction crisis, we need to use every weapon in our arsenal. But after trophy hunting was identified as a threat to African leopards, U.S. wildlife officials sat on their hands. The failure to help conserve these iconic cats is unacceptable.”

Under the law, the Service was required to make an uplisting determination by July 2017. But four years have passed since that deadline and the agency still hasn’t acted. The groups also petitioned the agency, as an alternative, to remove the existing exemption for the African leopard trophy trade, but five years later the Service still has not responded.

Today’s lawsuit, filed in federal court in the District of Columbia, challenges the agency’s failures to take sorely needed action to protect the species from the trophy trade.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, classifies the leopard as “vulnerable,” meaning it is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. According to IUCN, by 2020, the sub-Saharan African leopard population had likely declined by more than 30% over the previous 22.3 years, and that population is continuing to decline.

Leopards are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, human persecution, illegal wildlife trade, ceremonial use of skins, prey base declines and poorly managed trophy hunting.

Leopard populations in Asia and northern Africa are listed as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act. However, leopards in 18 countries in sub-Saharan Africa are listed as “threatened” under the ESA, and those leopards are not entitled to the Act’s full range of protections.

While leopards receive the strictest protections under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, unscientific leopard export quotas and lax application of CITES’ import and export requirements have allowed for a poorly regulated and unsustainable trophy industry fueled in large part by U.S. hunters.

There we go again.

An utterly stupid, selfish, ignorant Western organization trying to tell Africa what to do with their countries!

Yes that’s going to help the leopard NOT. The result of South Africa not having a Leopard hunt for a few years is they are shot on sight and buried. Male Female and Cubs it doesn’t matter to the farmers.

quote:

Yes that’s going to help the leopard NOT.

+1

Leopards are about as endangered as coyotes. But, they are pretty and that equals fund raising potential. Such bulls…!

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/...opard-trophy-permits


Hunting Club Fails to Stop Challenge to Leopard Trophy Permits


March 22, 2022, 11:34 AM


Challenged permits ‘prerequisites’ to hunts

Alleged defects capable of repetition, court says

Safari Club International failed to convince a federal judge in Arizona to stop a lawsuit by conservation groups who are challenging the federal government’s decision to issue leopard trophy import permits for hunts in Zimbabwe and Tanzania.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Humane Society International, and Humane Society of the United States say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision will increase the number of leopards killed, which puts more pressure on a species already at risk. The groups have told the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona that their ability to view and enjoy the leopards will ...

To read the full article log in.

https://subscriber.politicopro...stays-alive-00019196

Spot on: Lawsuit over leopard trophy imports stays alive

The suit challenges Fish and Wildlife Service decisions that authorize leopard trophy imports from Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia. The challengers note that the United States imports nearly 300 leopard trophies per year, slightly more than half of the worldwide annual total.


BY: MICHAEL DOYLE
| 03/22/2022 01:33 PM EDT



GREENWIRE | Wildlife advocates can keep challenging the importation of sport-hunted leopard trophies, now that a federal judge has rejected two efforts to junk their lawsuit.

In the latest decision, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Zipps yesterday denied Safari Club International’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit brought in late 2020 by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Humane Society of the United States.


Zipps, an Obama administration appointee, previously rejected a similar effort by the federal government to get the lawsuit tossed.

“This decision is a big victory for leopards because it means they’ll finally have their day in court,” Tanya Sanerib, international legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.

Sanerib said “hundreds and hundreds of these spotted beauties are imported as trophies to the United States every year despite the lack of critical data on how trophy hunting and other threats are impacting these imperiled cats,” adding, “that’s the next battle in court.”

...

Perhaps if we post more pictures of Sport Hunted Leopards, explaining why we need to do so, will change minds.

FFS.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Ahrenberg:
Perhaps if we post more pictures of Sport Hunted Leopards, explaining why we need to do so, will change minds.

FFS.

Nothing to do with posting hunting pictures.

Just the whole bloody world is gone bonkers!

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Ahrenberg:
Perhaps if we post more pictures of Sport Hunted Leopards, explaining why we need to do so, will change minds.

FFS.

Nothing to do with posting hunting pictures.

Just the whole bloody world is gone bonkers!

I'm willing to agree with you to a point. Can you, in all honesty say, the pictures of "Cecil" didn't enrage the anti's into action?

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Ahrenberg:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Ahrenberg:
Perhaps if we post more pictures of Sport Hunted Leopards, explaining why we need to do so, will change minds.

FFS.

Nothing to do with posting hunting pictures.

Just the whole bloody world is gone bonkers!

I'm willing to agree with you to a point. Can you, in all honesty say, the pictures of "Cecil" didn't enrage the anti's into action?

Well, Steve, those whack jobs were already bonkers to begin with.

quote:

Originally posted by DLS:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Ahrenberg:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Ahrenberg:
Perhaps if we post more pictures of Sport Hunted Leopards, explaining why we need to do so, will change minds.

FFS.

Nothing to do with posting hunting pictures.

Just the whole bloody world is gone bonkers!

I'm willing to agree with you to a point. Can you, in all honesty say, the pictures of "Cecil" didn't enrage the anti's into action?

Well, Steve, those whack jobs were already bonkers to begin with.

No argument there. They can't even figure out what bathroom to use.

And with the new SCOTUS nominee not even being able to tell if she is a woman or not…

So leopards are super endangered? That's only because most people don't see them unless you go looking for them. And even if you do go looking for them.

A leopard in India shut down a Mercedes Benz plant by simply walking into the facility. No one could figure out where he came from or how he got into the compound. Funny.