Endangered leopards move closer to protecting endangered species

By June 2027, the United States will decide on the need to protect endangered leopards under the US Endangered Species Act. The deadline follows a lawsuit demanding more scrutiny of African leopard trophy imports. Photo by Gernot Hensel/EPA

Feb. 13 (UPI) — Over the next four years, the United States will decide whether to protect endangered leopards under the US Endangered Species Act, according to the Humane Society, which announced a new deadline Monday.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service agreed Deadline June 2027 to decide whether leopards should be protected after a lawsuit filed by animal welfare and conservation groups that demanded a closer scrutiny of African leopard trophy imports.

“The leopard is already on the verge of extinction due to so many human-caused threats, and hunters in the US who kill these magnificent animals just to satisfy their selfish desire for creepy trophies to display at home or take selfies with their prey only exacerbate their decline,” said Sara Veitch, director of wildlife conservation at the Humane Society International.

“It’s very important that this iconic species get the full protection of the Endangered Species Act that they so badly need before it’s too late,” Witch added.

In July 2016 Humane Society International, Humane Society of the United States and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition asking for additional protection measures to conserve the leopard population. The groups sued the USFWS in November 2021 after they failed to set deadlines. Monday’s announcement of a mandatory deadline is part of that settlement.

“Today, the USFWS finally agreed on a deadline to determine whether African leopards will receive enhanced protections under the Endangered Species Act,” Center for Biological Diversity. tweeted Monday. “As the world’s largest importer of leopard trophies, the US must take action to protect them.”

On Monday, the USFWS did not comment on the leopard protection deadline.

The groups claim that African leopard wild populations are believed to be declining due to habitat loss, ceremonial skins, illegal wildlife trade and poorly organized trophy hunting. United States are world’s largest importer African leopard hunting trophies, according to the Society for the Humane, which says American hunters imported more than half of the 1,640 leopard trophies sold worldwide between 2014 and 2018.

While the leopard is currently protected as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act, leopards are currently exempt from the ESA’s most stringent protection measures.

“The government has left endangered leopards to languish in legal limbo, but now we look forward to strong action to protect these beautiful animals,” said Tanya Sanerib, director of international legal affairs for the Center for Biological Diversity.

“These iconic big cats are going broke. Although we have legal tools to help them, the government is inactive,” Sanerib said. “As an extinction crisis looms larger than life, we need proactive wildlife protection from the Biden administration to save life on Earth.”

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