An
undated photo of Cecil the lion resting in Hwange National Park, in
Hwange, Zimbabwe. (Photo: Andy Loveridge/Wildlife Conservation Research
Unit via AP)
The
Obama administration is probing the killing of Cecil the lion but
hasn’t been able to reach Walter Palmer, the Minnesota hunter and
dentist who allegedly killed Cecil in Zimbabwe after he and two others
lured the beloved lion out of a national park.
“The
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is investigating the circumstances
surrounding the killing of ‘Cecil the lion.’ That investigation will
take us wherever the facts lead,” said Edward Grace, the agency’s deputy
chief of law enforcement, in a statement.
“At
this point in time, however, multiple efforts to contact Dr. Walter
Palmer have been unsuccessful. We ask that Dr. Palmer or his
representative contact us immediately,” he added.
The
killing and beheading of the popular 13-year-old lion has provoked
outrage, widespread publicity, and an explosion of online scorn toward
Palmer.
Grace’s
statement goes further than yesterday’s Fish & Wildlife Service
comment that the agency is “currently gathering facts about the issue
and will assist Zimbabwe officials in whatever manner requested.”
Palmer, in a statement
to the Minneapolis Star Tribune two days ago, said at the time that he
hadn’t yet been contacted by authorities in Zimbabwe or in the U.S. but
pledged to “assist them in any inquiries they may have.”
The Associated Press quoted a spokeswoman for Zimbabwean police on Tuesday saying that they are looking for Palmer.
According to
the BBC, one of the two men from Zimbabwe who assisted Palmer, Theo
Bronkhorst, pled not guilty in a Zimbabwean court Wednesday to the
charge of “failing to prevent an unlawful hunt.”
Palmer,
whose practice has been shuttered amid the outrage over Cecil’s
killing, expressed regret about the killing. “I had no idea that the
lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a
study until the end of the hunt. I relied on the expertise of my local
professional guides to ensure a legal hunt,” he said in his statement.
The
confirmation that U.S. authorities want to speak with Palmer comes as
several dozen House Democrats, calling Cecil’s death a “reminder of the
perils the African lion faces,” are urging the Interior Department to
quickly boost protections for the iconic species.
In
a letter today to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, approximately 50
lawmakers will call for the Fish & Wildlife Service to
“expeditiously” finalize a rule that lists the lion as “threatened”
under the Endangered Species Act, arguing this would improve
conservation in several ways.
Here’s
how the letter led by Raul Grijalva, the top Democrat on the House
Natural Resources Committee, makes the case for the rule:
“First,
it would outlaw the trade of African lions or lion parts by people
subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, except under limited
circumstances. Second, it would require the Fish and Wildlife Service to
certify that sport-hunted lion trophies could only be imported into the
United States from countries with sound conservation plans that enhance
the survival of the species in the wild. Third, it would make the
African lion eligible for funding for conservation and recovery efforts
under the [Endangered Species Act].”
African
lions have declined by almost 50 percent in the last three decades to
under 40,000 today, and inhabit just 22 percent of their former range,
the letter states.
The
FWS issued a draft rule last October, took public comments until late
January and is now crafting the final rule. The process “generally”
takes about a year, FWS said.
However, those protections would not stop a number of threats.
According
to the FWS, the biggest threats facing the lions are loss of habitat,
loss of animals they prey upon, and conflict between humans and lions,
which is spurred by expansion of human settlements and agriculture into
the lions’ natural habitat. With their native prey disappearing, lions
end up killing livestock, which leads to “retaliatory” killings.
In
a separate letter, Grijalva is asking Natural Resources Committee
Chairman Rob Bishop to hold a hearing in September on Grijalva’s bill,
which would create a new “Rare Cats and Canids Conservation Fund” at
Interior. The bill “would enhance U.S. financial support for
international conservation efforts that would protect lions like Cecil,
as well as other rare cats and wild dogs with dwindling populations,”
his letter states.
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