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Originally posted by boarkiller:
Nicely put - USFWA - imbeciles

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Originally posted by Kathi:
http://news.nationalgeographic...ing-trophies-banned/



U.S. Hunters Banned from Importing Trophies from Captive Lions

South Africa’s captive lions are raised to be hunted within confined spaces, a practice experts consider cruel and unrelated to conservation.


By Rachael Bale
Jani Actman


PUBLISHED OCTOBER 21, 2016


Some 8,000 lions bred for the sole purpose of being hunted are kept on game ranches in South Africa. Every year thousands of hunters—mostly Americans—pay handsomely to kill these lions within the confines of walls and fences, a practice known as canned lion hunting.

But starting today they’ll no longer be allowed to bring back the heads, skins, claws, teeth, and other lion parts from those kills. On Thursday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a ban on the import of trophies taken from captive-bred lions in South Africa.

Conservationists, animal welfare advocates, and even many hunters are cheering the decision.

“This is huge,” says Ian Michler, a conservationist and the narrator of Blood Lions, a documentary released last year that exposed the canned lion industry. “If we can start seriously clamping down on the demand side, then it will impact things here in south Africa.”

Captive-bred lions serve no conservation purpose because hand-reared lions cannot be released into the wild, according to wildlife experts. They also often suffer in captivity. Many hunters say canned hunting violates the principle of “fair chase,” in which every animal has a reasonable chance to get away. It’s what separates hunting from killing, says the Boone and Crockett Club, a U.S.-based hunting organization.

Lions have declined precipitously in the wild, down from an estimated 200,000 continent-wide a century ago to about 20,000 today. Habitat loss, prey depletion, and greater conflict with humans account for most of this loss, but conservationists argue that trophy hunting of wild lions contributes to the decline.


The Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision was based on last year’s decision to add lions to the the Endangered Species Act list. That meant that as of January 22, 2016, hunters could only import trophies from captive and wild lions if the country where the hunt takes place can prove hunting revenue goes toward conservation.

“Our decision to prohibit such imports is based solely on our evaluation of the conservation benefits of captive lion hunts,” wrote Dan Ashe, the director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, in a Huffington Post blog. “In the case of lions taken from captive populations in South Africa, that burden of proof has not been met.”

The new import rules come on the heels of a vote at the conference for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, the treaty that governs wildlife trade, that gave wild lions new protections from international trade but failed to extend them to captive-bred lions. The new protections mean wild lions can still be hunted and individuals can export and import trophies with permits, but the commercial trade in wild lion parts is banned.

After Blood Lions premiered, Australia and France banned the import of captive and wild lion trophies, and South Africa’s hunting association, which long had sided with the canned hunting industry, voted to disassociate itself from the industry. (See: The End of ‘Canned’ Lion Hunting May Be In Sight.) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service continues to allow the import of some trophies from wild lions because it says well-managed trophy hunting supports conservation efforts.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says that import permits must reflect whether a trophy is from a wild or captive-bred lion, and that if their inspectors have any doubts about the origin, they’ll reach out to their counterparts in South Africa to confirm.

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Originally posted by Kathi:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...estamp=1476983176624



A Major Step Forward for Lion Conservation in Africa
10/20/2016 01:06 pm ET


USFWS
African Lion
Dan Ashe
Director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
This post is hosted on the Huffington Post’s Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and post freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.



Ensuring that healthy, wild lion populations continue to roam Africa’s savannas has become increasingly challenging, as southern Africa’s expanding human population comes into ever greater conflict with lions across much of their range.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and our partners understand that securing the lion’s future depends upon finding solutions that recognize the needs of those people and communities who share the landscape with them.

Earlier this year, we protected lions under the Endangered Species Act, giving us the responsibility to regulate the import of live lions, lion trophies and other parts and derivatives through our permitting system. These new permitting requirements also give countries with lion populations – especially if they want to continue to host U.S. hunters – a powerful new incentive to work with us to implement sustainable, scientifically sound management strategies.

Today, I’m proud to announce decisions regulating the import of sport-hunted lion trophies under the ESA from South Africa – home to many of the remaining wild lion populations. These decisions will help build and sustain community support for lion conservation, while also taking steps to halt the exploitation of these incredible animals.

Beginning today, the United States will not allow the import of lion trophies taken from captive lion populations in South Africa. While U.S. law has not prohibited such imports in the past, the protections now afforded to lions by the ESA do not allow us to issue import permits.

In order to permit the import of lion trophies under the ESA, exporting nations like South Africa must provide clear evidence showing a demonstrable conservation benefit to the long-term survival of the species in the wild. In the case of lions taken from captive populations in South Africa, that burden of proof has not been met. Many Americans, whether they hunt or not, believe that hunting captive-bred lions is unethical. Regardless, our decision to prohibit such imports is based solely – as the law requires – on our evaluation of the conservation benefits of captive lion hunts. If and when such benefits can be clearly shown, we may reevaluate our position.

The vast majority of lion trophies imported into the United States in recent years have been from these captive populations in South Africa, so our decision will likely substantially reduce the total number of lion trophy imports.

At the same time, we recognize the need to work with African nations and conservation organizations to engage and empower local communities – helping them to view lions as an asset, not a liability. The human population of sub-Saharan Africa is projected to more than double by 2050 – pushing settlements, grazing and agriculture into lion habitat. Even protected areas are affected. Humans are also depleting the wild prey that supports lions, consuming these animals and selling them as bushmeat, or wild-sourced meat. Faced with declining habitat and prey, lions are increasingly targeting livestock and people – resulting in retaliatory killing of lions.

Unless effective measures are taken to protect lions, their prey and habitat, wild populations of lions may face extirpation from many parts of their historic range within that time frame.

That’s why we’re working on multiple levels with our partners to protect lions and address the threats they face. This includes efforts to reduce cattle depredation and other lion-related conflicts, while also supporting tourism and other sustainable economic activities involving wild and wild-managed lions. We’re also expanding our capacity to work with international law enforcement partners to investigate, arrest and prosecute poachers and traffickers.

In addition, we continue to provide grant funding that supports on-the-ground conservation efforts for lions and other species through our International Affairs Program. Grant funds have supported projects to build the capacity of wildlife agency officials to protect and manage their lions, and to reduce conflicts with lions in communities that share the range.

Under certain conditions, scientifically sound conservation programs that include sport hunting of wild lions can significantly contribute to the long-term survival of lions. U.S. hunters – the vast majority of whom strongly support ethical, sustainable game management – make up a disproportionately large share of foreign hunters who book trophy hunts in Africa. Their participation in well-managed hunting programs can help advance the conservation benefits provided by such programs.

We have determined that sport hunting of wild and wild-managed lions does contribute to the long-term conservation of the species in South Africa, thanks to the effective management program overseen by South Africa’s Ministry of Environmental Affairs. As a result, we will allow the import of lion trophies taken with the authorization of the South African government from wild or wild-managed populations.

Let me be clear – we cannot and will not allow trophies into the United States from any nation whose lion conservation program fails to meet key criteria for transparency, scientific management and effectiveness.

But it’s important to understand that lions are not in trouble because of responsible sport hunting.

We have also received applications from U.S. hunters that hunted or will be hunting in four other African nations – Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe – for permits to import sport-hunted lion trophies. We are evaluating the sport hunting programs in those countries and will only approve those applications if we receive sufficient evidence of long-term benefits to wild lions resulting from those programs.

Today’s findings – and the actions we take as a result – support effective lion conservation. Most of all, they demonstrate our unflagging resolve to sustain wild lions for generations to come.

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Originally posted by Opus1:
Interesting follow up to all this.

1. PHASA seems to be in full on meltdown mode trying to force its members to denounce the captive bred lion industry. Like somehow this is going to appease the anti-hunters and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. In fact, their willingness to pursue this path and throw the captive bred industry under the bus is largely what emboldened USFWS to restrict imports.

2. Areas that have quota but have never considered hunting lion are now expressing interest as the trophy fees for wild lion will soon go through the roof. So much for the notion that captive bred lion do not contribute to conservation of the species.

This is going to be a trainwreck thanks in no small part to the industry supposedly fighting against the anti-hunters.