Ranking Member Grijalva Presses Fish and Wildlife Service to List Threatened African Lions, Requests Hearing on Bill to Save Big Cats

Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva today asked theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in a letter signed by 49 other House Democrats to finalize its long-awaited listing of African lions as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. The agency, which proposed the listing more than a year ago, is facing new calls to protect African lions in the wake of a Minnesota dentist's allegedly illegal killing of a popular Zimbabwean male lion named Cecil. You can read the letter here.

Grijalva is a long-time advocate of greater federal protection for African lions and for meaningful Republican commitment to strengthening wildlife poaching and trafficking standards. In a July 28 statement, Grijalva said in part:

Species conservation, despite Republican eye-rolling and refusal to listen, is not part of some liberal political fringe. It is a priority for Americans -- and Africans -- who hope to preserve the wildlife we still have left to preserve. Republicans in Washington who don't believe polar bears, elephants, lions, rhinoceros or other at-risk species are important to their constituents only need to look at the response to this story [about Cecil].

Among other questions, Grijalva asked a FWS official at a July 29 hearing when the agency would finalize its proposed listing. You can watch that exchange at http://bit.ly/1VNsZUL.

Grijalva sent a separate letter today to Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) requesting a hearing on H.R. 2697, Grijalva's "Rare Cats and Canids Act of 2015," which would create grant programs to preserve at-risk large cat populations around the world. Bishop has so far ignored the bill. You can read that letter here.

"It truly saddens me that it took the needless death of a lion who happened to have a public profile to get Washington's attention," Grijalva said. "Now that the world is watching, let's give FWS the funding it needs to prevent poaching and trafficking, let's invest in big cat protection programs, and let's list the African lion under the Endangered Species Act as we should have long ago. Anything less would ignore the lessons of this painful, avoidable episode and invite a repeat nobody wants to see."

"The killing of the beloved Cecil the lion is tragic and an outrage, and is part of a much larger peril facing African lions," said Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), who co-leads the letter on listing African lions. It's time for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to finalize its rule and list the African lion as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. We must improve conservation of this iconic species and send a strong signal that we will protect the African lion."

"It's hard to imagine a world without lions, but that's what we'll get if we do nothing," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), a signatory to the listing letter. "The population has declined by more than 40 percent in the past two decades, yet the United States is the largest source of game hunters traveling abroad and paying top dollar to shoot these majestic animals. The outrageous killing of Cecil the Lion is just the latest example for why Fish and Wildlife Service should act immediately to add African Lions to the Endangered Species Act threatened species list."

Researchers have pointed out that Cecil's death puts the lives of his estimated two dozen cubs at risk. "We shouldn't kid ourselves about what Cecil's death will really cost," Grijalva said. "I only hope this is the last time we have to read about a big game hunter putting his needs above those of an entire species."

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